aibioCoherus (now Coherus Oncology) completes UDENYCA sale to Intas for $483.4 million upfront
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Coherus can earn up to $75 million more in sales milestones and says it has $250 million in cash after closing, enough to fund work into 2027.
Key facts
- Company
- Coherus Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRS)
- News type
- Mergers
- Primary source
- Coherus Oncology, Inc. 8-K (2025-04-14)
The closing
Coherus BioSciences, Inc., now Coherus Oncology, Inc., said on April 14, 2025 that it had completed the sale of its UDENYCA (pegfilgrastim-cbqv) franchise to Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The closing occurred on April 11, 2025, under an asset purchase agreement dated December 2, 2024. The company said the deal is valued at up to $558.4 million.
The upfront cash payment was $483.4 million, including $118.4 million for UDENYCA inventory. The release says that amount is subject to adjustments that will be finalized after closing, so the final cash figure is not yet set. Coherus is also eligible for two milestone payments totaling $75.0 million if Intas meets specified net sales thresholds for UDENYCA. Whether those thresholds are met is an uncertainty the company lists in its own forward-looking risk list.
Intas received the UDENYCA pre-filled syringe, the UDENYCA autoinjector and UDENYCA ONBODY, and assumed identified liabilities. Accord BioPharma, Inc., described as the U.S. specialty division of Intas Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., took over the franchise in the United States. The release describes Accord as focused on oncology, immunology and critical care therapies.
The company's 10-K, filed on March 17, 2025, describes UDENYCA as a biosimilar to Neulasta. It says UDENYCA launched as a pre-filled syringe in the United States in January 2019, followed by an autoinjector in May 2023 and UDENYCA ONBODY in February 2024. The franchise is the product line that Coherus has now sold.
What the company keeps
Coherus says the sale leaves a $250 million post-close cash balance, which it says extends its cash runway over two years into 2027. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Denny Lanfear said in the release that the company had "transformed the company while dramatically reducing our debt." The release does not give the amount of debt repaid at closing, and it does not state the balance of the convertible notes after the sale.
The 10-K said the company expected to use the sale proceeds to repay the $230.0 million principal of its 1.5% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2026. It also expected to pay $47.7 million to buy out royalty rights on UDENYCA net sales held by Coduet Royalty Holdings, LLC. Those were expectations at the time of the 10-K. The closing release does not confirm either payment.
After the sale the company says it will focus exclusively on oncology. Its named products and candidates are LOQTORZI (toripalimab-tpzi), a PD-1 inhibitor the release calls revenue-generating, casdozokitug, an IL-27 antagonist, and CHS-114, a CCR8 antibody. The company plans to take its immuno-oncology candidates, combined with LOQTORZI, to key data milestones in 2026.
The release describes the pipeline as promising and mid-stage. The 10-K, filed on March 17, 2025, describes the pipeline as made up of earlier stage clinical and preclinical programs. Casdozokitug is in Phase 1/2 and Phase 2 studies, and CHS-114 is in Phase 1 studies, according to the release. The two descriptions do not agree, and the study phases are the more checkable of the two.
Risks the company lists
The release's forward-looking statements list several risks. They include uncertainty about whether Intas will reach the net sales thresholds that trigger the milestone payments. They also include the risk that transition services the company provides to Intas disrupt its own plans or divert management and employees from ongoing operations. The release also lists the risk that the company does not realize the expected benefits of the transaction, and the risk of unforeseen liabilities.
The release says the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2024 contains the risk factors that apply to these statements, and it cautions that no assurance is given that the transaction will be consummated in the manner described.
Advisers
The release names J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as Coherus's financial advisor on the transaction. It names Latham & Watkins LLP as legal counsel to Coherus. The release does not name advisers for Intas or Accord.