Esperion Therapeutics and Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH have reached a resolution in their ongoing commercial litigation and have agreed to amend their collaboration. As part of the settlement, Daiichi Sankyo will provide Esperion with a payment of $100 million in mid-January, ahead of the anticipated type II variation approval for the Nilemdo and Nustendi tablets by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). An additional payment of $25 million will be made to Esperion following the EMA’s decision on the pending application.
Previously, on May 4, Esperion had filed a complaint against Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH, seeking a milestone payment of $300 million. However, Daiichi Sankyo had denied making the payment. The two companies have been collaborating since 2019 to reduce cardiovascular risk in eligible patients through bempedoic acid.
In addition to the financial settlement, Esperion will now shift its manufacturing and supply chain responsibilities in Europe to Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH. This transition is expected to result in cost savings for both parties.
“We are dedicated to resolving this dispute as we continue to bring bempedoic acid to the European market and beyond. We remain confident that we will receive the $300 million milestone payment from Daiichi Sankyo upon regulatory approval in the first half of 2024, as originally planned,” stated Sheldon Koenig, Chief Executive of Esperion, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH serves as the European headquarters for Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo.
