Merrimack Pharmaceuticals has received a $5 million milestone payment from Shire, triggered by the sale of ONIVYDE in the first major non-European, non-Asian country, pursuant to the terms of Merrimack’s asset sale to Ipsen in 2017.

“Since the start of the third quarter, Merrimack has received $38 million in non-dilutive capital, including two milestone payments from Shire totaling $23 million,” said Richard Peters, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Merrimack. “We are pleased to further strengthen the Company’s cash position as we continue advancing our wholly-owned clinical and preclinical pipeline.”

The terms of the Company’s asset sale to Ipsen in 2017 entitled Merrimack to receive up to an aggregate of $33 million in net milestone payments from Shire, of which Merrimack has now received $23 million, including this milestone and the $18 million payment in August 2018 resulting from the sale of ONIVYDE in two additional major European countries. Merrimack remains eligible to receive up to an additional $10 million in milestone payments for the first patient dosed in a pivotal clinical trial of ONIVYDE in an indication other than pancreatic cancer.

Furthermore, Merrimack is entitled to receive up to an aggregate of $450 million in regulatory-based milestones from Ipsen. Merrimack has stated it expects to pass these proceeds through to stockholders, net of any taxes owed and subject to there being a sufficient surplus at that time, consisting of: 

• $225 million upon approval by the FDA of ONIVYDE for the first-line treatment of metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, subject to certain conditions; 
• $150 million upon approval by the FDA of ONIVYDE for the treatment of small cell lung cancer after failure of first-line chemotherapy; and 
• $75 million upon approval by the FDA of ONIVYDE for an additional indication unrelated to those described above.