Vivus secures USD 140m milestone payment

US-based pharmaceutical company Vivus has secured a USD 140m milestone payment from co-development partner KV Pharmaceutical related to the rights for menopause treatment Evamist (transdermal estrogen).

KV licensed the rights for Evamist from Vivus and the drug has received FDA marketing approval.

Vivus, which also received a USD 10m upfront payment in May 2007, when it transferred the rights, revealed it was eligible for two additional one-time milestone payments worth USD 30m in total based on sales milestones for Evamist.

On a pro forma basis, including the milestone, the company's cash and cash equivalents at June 30 would have been USD 193.2m.

At a press meeting, Leland Wilson, Vivus' president and CEO said: "With the receipt of the milestone payment from KV, I believe Vivus is in the strongest financial position in our history. We estimate that we can fully fund the phase III trials of Qnexa (formerly VI-0521) for obesity and maintain a strong cash position at the end of those trials."

In pre-market trading, Vivus' shares rose USD 0.11 to rest at USD 5.86.