Xoma closes $9.6M deal for rights to Ixinity for hemophilia B

Xoma closed a $9.6 million deal to buy from Aptevo Therapeutics the rights to receive a payment stream for sales of Ixinity (trenonacog alfa), an approved medication used to prevent and treat bleeding episodes in people with hemophilia B.

Under the terms of the deal, Xoma will start getting paid a certain percentage of the sales in the second quarter of 2023 — and payments will continue until the first quarter of 2035. This means that for every sale of Ixinity occurring in the next dozen years, Xoma will receive a percentage of it. That percentage is in the mid-single digits.

The company also will be entitled to milestone payments, which means that it will get to share in a portion of the profits when certain anniversaries and achievements are met.

“Adding a new commercial payment stream will benefit Xoma’s shareholders as we build our base of consistent incoming cash flows to help accelerate our royalty aggregation strategy,” Brad Sitko, chief investment officer at Xoma, said in a company press release.

“Ixinity has an established niche in the hemophilia B treatment paradigm, with near-term potential opportunities for growth, including label and geographic expansion,” Sitko added.

Hemophilia B occurs when the body fails to produce sufficient amounts of functional factor IX (FIX), a clotting factor that helps the blood to form clots. Without FIX, people with hemophilia B can experience heavy bleeding, especially after an injury or surgery.

Ixinity has an established niche in the hemophilia B treatment paradigm, with near-term potential opportunities for growth, including label and geographic expansion.

Ixinity, originally developed by Aptevo and now marketed by Medexus Pharmaceuticals, is a medicine used to replace the missing FIX in adults and children, ages 12 and older, with hemophilia B.

It can be used for routine prophylaxis or preventive treatment to reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes, for on-demand treatment to control active bleeds, or to manage bleeds during surgery.

The medicine is administered as an intravenous (into-the-vein) infusion. The appropriate dose and frequency should be determined by a healthcare professional based on a number of parameters, including the patient’s age, overall clinical condition, bleed type and severity.

In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) partially rescinded its approval of Ixinity as a routine preventive treatment for children with hemophilia B due to conflicting market exclusivity rights with another therapy. The FDA restored Ixinity’s approval for that indication last year.