Sinclair Pharma New terms agreed for Ellanse purchase
Sinclair Pharma announced that it has amended its acquisition agreement with Aqtis Medical relating to its purchase of Ellanse in March 2014. The firm is scrapping milestone payments worth £28.2m over the next three to five years and will make an immediate one-off payment of £11.8m in full and final settlement of all outstanding milestone payments relating to Ellanse. The company expects the payment to result in a one-off exceptional credit of c.£8m in the year ending 30 June 2016. The announcement was made alongside H1 results. The company reported sales of £7.7m, in-line with expectations but lower than last year due to planned distributor de-stocking. It also revealed that Ellanse's in-market sales increased 100%. Sinclair Pharma also stated that it is undertaking a strategic review including examining distribution options for the US launch of Silhouette InstaLift. Chris Spooner, the firm's CEO, stated that the recent sale of its non-aesthetics business has enabled the company to focus on its portfolio of high-growth differentiated products; adding it is confident in the immediate and longer-term outlook for the firm.

North West Deals Richard Frost

Chester-based pharmaceutical company Sinclair Pharma has scrapped milestone payments worth $36m (£28.2m) relating to the acquisition of medical device specialist AQTIS Medical and agreed to make an immediate one-off payment of £11.8m instead.

The business signed an acquisition agreement with the sellers of AQTIS Medical BV in March 2014. Under the old terms, sales and US approval milestones for the Ellansé brand were forecast to total £28.2m, payable over the next 3-5 years.

But now under an amended agreement, Sinclair Pharma will make an immediate one-off payment of £11.8m in cash to settle all future milestones that remained due from the acquisition.

Sinclair Pharma told investors that it expects the transaction will result in a one-off exceptional credit of approximately £8m in the current financial year ending 30 June 2016.

At the same time, Sinclair Pharma has announced its results for the six months ending 31 December 2015, which represent the company's first figures since the divestment of its non-aesthetics business for £132m.

The company said that as expected, reported sales of £7.7m were lower than the £10.5m posted in the first half of 2015 as a result of planned distributor de-stocking. And it revealed that Ellansé in-market sales have grown by 100 per cent.

Chris Spooner, chief executive of Sinclair Pharma, said: "In-market H1 FY16 Ellansé revenue growth of 100 per cent was announced in today's interim results statement. With Ellansé sales growing so strongly, the company is delighted to be able to use its balance sheet strength to eliminate these future milestones."

Sinclair Pharma's corporate headquarters are located in London but its global technical administration office is based in Chester.