CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) – Drug developer Pozen Inc. said it sold most of its future royalty and milestone payments from U.S. sales of the migraine treatment Treximet to an investor for $75 million.

The Chapel Hill, N.C., company said the investor receives royalties starting last Oct. 1 on net U.S. sales of Treximet and any other products containing sumatriptan and naproxen sodium developed and sold by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline under a collaboration and license agreement. A brief statement from Pozen did not identify the investor.

Pozen retains rights to 20 percent of royalties paid on net sales of Treximet and other products in the United States starting in the second quarter of 2018. The company said the deal significantly improves its balance sheet without diluting shares. Pozen now expects to end 2011 with more than $110 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.

Pozen will record the gain from the sale, minus transaction costs, as revenue in the fourth quarter. It now expects 2011 revenue to range from $86 million to $87 million.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect, on average, revenue of $16.8 million, not counting the sale.

Date: November 28, 2011
Source: Associated Press