Apricus Licenses US Rights For Fispemifene From Forendo Pharma

(RTTNews) - Apricus Biosciences, Inc.(APRI) on Monday said it has licensed the U.S. development and commercialization rights for fispemifene, an investigational treatment for urological conditions in men, from Forendo Pharma, a private therapeutics company. Under the deal, Forendo received an upfront license fee of $12.5 million comprised of a $5 million cash payment and the issuance of $7.5 million in Apricus common stock.

The agreement also includes potential clinical and regulatory milestone payments to Forendo of up to $45 million, including for potential FDA approval, as well as potential commercial milestone payments amounting up to $260 million.

Once the product is commercialized, Apricus will also pay tiered low double-digit royalties based on total sales.

Apricus will be in charge of the clinical development of fispemifene, as well as for all its future commercialization efforts in the U.S. and its territories.

The company also said it expects to begin a Phase 2b clinical trial during the first half of 2015 to confirm the optimal fispemifene doses to treat men with secondary hypogonadism.

Further, the group said it has secured $10 million in venture debt financing, to fund the acquisition of fispemifene rights as well as for funding the Phase 2b clinical development program during 2015.