Acer Therapeutics Reacquires Worldwide Development, Commercialization and Economic Rights to OLPRUVA from Relief Therapeutics, Excluding the Geographical Europe

NEWTON, Mass., Aug. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acer Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ACER), a pharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of therapies for serious, rare and life-threatening diseases with significant unmet medical needs, today announced it has entered into definitive agreements to reacquire worldwide development, commercialization and economic rights to OLPRUVA (sodium phenylbutyrate) from Relief Therapeutics, excluding the European Union, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Vatican City, Norway, Iceland, Principality of Monaco, Andorra, Gibraltar, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia (Geographical Europe). OLPRUVA is approved in the U.S. for the treatment of certain urea cycle disorders (UCDs).

Under the prior Collaboration and License Agreement (CLA) between the parties, Acer would have paid Relief 60% of Acer's OLPRUVA net profits in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Turkey and Japan (the Acer territories), while Acer would have received a 15% royalty on Relief’s net sales in the rest of the world (the Relief territories). Acer and Relief have now agreed to terminate the CLA, where Acer is no longer required to pay Relief 60% of OLPRUVA net profits in the Acer territories and have regained all development and commercialization rights in rest of the world, excluding the Geographical Europe. In return, Relief will receive an upfront payment by Acer of $10 million, to be made within 5 business days of the signature date, with an additional payment of $1.5 million due on the first-year anniversary of the $10 million payment. Acer has also agreed to pay a 10% royalty on net sales in the Acer territories, and 20% of any value received by Acer from certain third parties relating to OLPRUVA licensing or divestment rights, all of the foregoing which are capped at $45 million, for total payments to Relief of up to $56.5 million. Additionally, Acer and Relief have entered into a new Exclusive License Agreement (ELA) in which Relief will retain development and commercialization rights for OLPRUVA in the Geographical Europe, where Acer will have the right to receive a royalty of up to 10% of the net sales of OLPRUVA.