MONTREAL, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Knight Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: GUD) ("Knight") a pan-America (ex-USA) specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which Knight will acquire the exclusive rights to manufacture, market and sell Exelon® (rivastigmine Patch, Capsules and Solution) in Canada and Latin America (the “ Territory ”), as well as an exclusive license to use the intellectual property and the Exelon trademark, from Novartis within the Territory.
Exelon (rivastigmine) is a prescription product that was first approved in 1997 and is currently registered and sold in approximately 90 countries. Exelon is indicated for the symptomatic treatment of mild to moderately severe dementia in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
At closing, Knight will pay USD $168 million in cash and an additional milestone payment of up to USD $12 million upon the achievement of certain conditions. Exelon had annual revenues for 2020 of approximately 47 Million US dollars for Canada and Latin America.
“We are excited to add Exelon to our portfolio of specialty CNS products and continue to support this well established and important therapy option in an area of such high unmet need as Alzheimer’s”, said Samira Sakhia, President and Chief Operating Officer of Knight.
“The acquisition of Exelon leverages Knight’s pan-American (ex-US) platform and further validates our Rest-of-world strategy”, said Amal Khouri, Chief Business Officer of Knight. “Exelon will be the first product that we will be selling across our entire territory”.
The closing of this transaction is subject to anti-trust clearance in Brazil. In conjunction with closing, Knight will enter into a transition service agreement until transfer of marketing authorization, on a country by country basis during which Knight will receive a net profit transfer. Knight will begin distributing Exelon upon transfer of marketing authorization, on a country by country basis.