Seattle-based biotech Omeros Corp. (Nasdaq: OMER) has completed the sale of its Omidria franchise to the British eye care company Rayner Surgical Group Limited.
The companies first announced the deal in early December. In a release last week announcing the completion of the sale, Omeros said it received about $126 million in cash upfront. Between royalty payments and a commercial milestone payment of $200 million for Omidria, a drug that prevents excessive pupil constriction in cataract surgery, the companies project the deal to be worth over $1 billion.
“We are immensely proud of our Omidria team and its achievements over the last seven years,” Omeros CEO Gregory Demopulos said in the release first announcing the sale. “We believe that Rayner, with its expertise and increasingly strong international presence in ophthalmology, represents a great home for Omidria and the product’s commercial team."
Omeros will receive royalty payments for Omidria sales both within and outside of the U.S. The company is also keeping the full amount in its accounts receivable, which was $34 million at the end of last quarter, according to Omeros.
Omeros was founded in 1994. The biotech is developing a variety of treatments, including ones targeting cancer, opioid and nicotine addiction, and compulsive disorders. Omeros' drug Narsoplimab, designed to prevent inflammation and damage to the membranes that line the heart and blood vessels, is in Phase 3 clinical trials for multiple uses. The drug also completed Phase 2 trials to help treat the autoimmune disease lupus nephritis.
Rayner was initially founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Worthing, England. The Omidria sale went to Rayner's U.S. subsidiary, New York-based Rayner Surgical Group Inc. Rayner established the U.S. subsidiary in 2017. Rayner makes intraocular lenses and a digital tool for surgeons to collect patient feedback called RayPRO that is available on mobile and web.
