Amgen, Unilife extend talks on exclusivity deal

Unilife (NSDQ:UNIS) and Amgen (NSDQ:AMGN) are giving themselves to the end of the week to come to an agreement on whether their deal for Unilife’s wearable injector technology will be exclusive to Amgen.

UNIS shares jumped last month after the companies revealed the initial deal, which called for a non-refundable $15 million deposit from Amgen, which will use Unilife’s wearable injector devices for some of its large-volume drug products. The deal also included a perpetual exclusive license for Unilife’s 1mL wearable injector for use with Amgen’s small-volume drug products.

Today York, Pa.-based Unilife said the companies agreed to extend the deadline on the exclusivity negotiations from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5. Amgen is based in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

As it stands now, Unilife will still develop most of the injectors, with Amgen footing the bill for each device manufactured for its use. If Unilife can’t keep up production, Amgen will be able to source the manufacturing elsewhere, with a 10% royalty going to Unilife. The deal also included a caveat which will allow Amgen to source 20% of their annual volume elsewhere, with Unilife receiving the difference per unit between their price and the manufacturing and procurement cost.

The deal was good news for Unilife, which last October said it tapped chairman & CEO Alan Shortall for a loan so it could avoid defaulting on its $60 million debt with OrbiMed.

Unilife, which slashed 17% from its workforce in September, said earlier that month that it’s exploring the proverbial “strategic alternatives.” In October, the company said it’s “received interest” from several parties.

UNIS shares were down -3.0% to 87.1¢ apiece today in early trading. AMGN shares were down -1.5% to $150.41 each.

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