Ann: Opthea's OPT-302 Granted Fast-Track for wet AMD, page-31

@whytee
From the Novartis/Ophthotech deal:
"Novartis ($NVS) has scooped up the ex-U.S. rights to Ophthotech's Fovista--its late-stage therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that hopes to one day rival heavyweight franchises controlled by Roche ($RHHBY) and Regeneron ($REGN)--in a package deal potentially worth more than $1 billion. And Ophthotech ($OPHT), which touted the deal as one of the biggest ever for ex-U.S. drug rights, gets $330 million of that in a hefty upfront and near-term milestones for the Phase III work.In the deal Novartis is paying $200 million upfront, $130 million for Phase III milestones, up to $300 million for ex-U.S. marketing approvals and $400 million for meeting certain sales goals. That $330 million in upfront and near-term payments also marks one of the biggest licensing pacts of the last decade, signaling once again that Big Pharma is ready and willing to pay the big bucks when they see the right opportunities come along."

Seems like my $200m upfront guesstimate was almost spot on, but the NVS deal didn't seem to include an equity component... which would be what OPT should be going for if a deal was signed. Not sure what the financial state of Ophthotech was when the deal was signed, but they did this deal shortly after listing.. an interesting comparison. With the deal ex-US, a global deal would most definitely be larger.

Thank you for sharing that... not as remote as I first thought. Though I am still struggling to get my head around what management would do with the cash... DME phase 2b trial possibly, but that won't cost much at all to run. Combination therapies are only in preclinical stage.

Precedent is there, so it could very well happen ... if the price is right, management may very well get a deal done. Fingers crossed it does for shareholders. I'll be having some humble pie if it happens before I get in!

goodluck