Arrowhead Research
Corporation (NASDAQ: ARWR) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary,
Tego Biosciences, has completed a definitive asset purchase agreement for the
sale of its non-cash intellectual property (IP) to Luna Innovations, Inc. (Nasdaq:
LUNA), a developer and manufacturer of new-generation products that include
pharmaceutical nanomedicines.
Under the terms of the agreement, Luna paid Tego $430,000 upfront, will make
milestone payments totaling $4.25 million for each fullerene product it brings
to market under Tego IP, and pay royalties on net sales of its products built
with the Tego IP.
Also under the terms of the agreement, Tego will receive payments of 10% on
revenues from the licensing or resale of Tego’s IP and 50% of net proceeds
from The Bronx Project products developed using Tego IP. The Tego IP includes
a broad portfolio of foreign and domestic patents and patent applications relating
to modified fullerenes for use in diagnostics, therapeutic, imaging and other
biopharmaceutical-related applications.
“This agreement is in line with Tego’s plan to limit ongoing costs
while retaining the ability to capture potential upside from its broad patent
portfolio,” said Arrowhead’s President and CEO Dr. Christopher Anzalone.
“Tego IP came into Arrowhead via the Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc. acquisition,
and we decided some time ago that it did not make sense for us to build the
expertise necessary to develop fullerene-based healthcare products. We also
recognized that there was a lot of potential value locked up in the Tego patent
portfolio, so we sought to unlock that value with the right partner. As a company
and through some of its senior scientists, Luna brings a strong knowledge base
of fullerene derivatives. We believe that their focused effort to develop fullerene-based
products has the potential to bear fruit, particularly now that it has access
to the Tego patent portfolio. We view this as a potentially significant value-driver
for Arrowhead in the long term because the Tego patent portfolio is not just
applicable to a single product. Rather, it may be used for a suite of multiple
products, each of which could bring value to Arrowhead via milestone payments
and royalties.”
Arrowhead Research Corporation (NASDAQ: ARWR) is a nanotechnology company commercializing
new technologies in the areas of life sciences, electronics, and energy. Arrowhead
is seeking to build value for shareholders through the progress of majority-owned
subsidiaries and minority investments commercializing nanotech products and
applications.