MacroGenics and Sagard Healthcare Partners Enter into ZYNYZ® Royalty Purchase Agreement
- Immediate $70 million cash infusion strengthens company's financial position
- Cash runway extended through first half of 2027
- Company retains future milestone payments and manufacturing rights for ZYNYZ
- Temporary nature of royalty arrangement - rights revert to MacroGenics after $140M cap
- Loss of near-term royalty revenue stream from ZYNYZ until $140M cap is reached
- Company trading future revenue potential for immediate cash needs
Insights
MacroGenics secured $70M upfront while maintaining long-term value in ZYNYZ through a strategic royalty monetization deal.
MacroGenics has executed a smart capital-raising strategy by selling time-limited royalty rights to its PD-1 inhibitor ZYNYZ to Sagard Healthcare Partners. The $70 million upfront payment comes with a cap structure that limits the total payout to Sagard at $140 million (2.0x return), after which MacroGenics regains all future royalty streams.
This transaction effectively represents a non-dilutive financing alternative to equity offerings or traditional debt, preserving shareholder value while extending the company's cash runway substantially through the first half of 2027. The company reported $154.1 million in cash and equivalents as of March 31, bringing their pro-forma cash position to approximately $224.1 million.
What makes this deal particularly strategic is that MacroGenics retains its milestone payment rights and will continue supporting the commercial manufacturing of ZYNYZ, maintaining a stake in the product's success. This approach is increasingly common among clinical-stage biotech companies seeking to monetize future revenue streams while maintaining long-term upside.
The extended runway gives MacroGenics crucial breathing room to advance its clinical pipeline without immediate financing pressure. Importantly, this transaction demonstrates management's focus on extending operational viability while preserving future economics once Sagard achieves its capped return.
- MacroGenics received
$70 million upfront cash payment from Sagard Healthcare Partners (Sagard) - MacroGenics’ cash runway extended through first half of 2027
ROCKVILLE, MD, June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MacroGenics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MGNX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing innovative antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced that it has entered into a royalty purchase agreement with Sagard in exchange for a capped royalty interest on future global net sales of ZYNYZ (retifanlimab-dlwr). ZYNYZ is a PD-1 inhibitor originally developed by MacroGenics and licensed to Incyte pursuant to an exclusive global collaboration and license agreement in October 2017. MacroGenics retains its other economic interests related to ZYNYZ, including future potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones. MacroGenics will also continue to support a portion of global commercial manufacturing needs for ZYNYZ.
Under the terms of the royalty purchase agreement, MacroGenics received a
Additional information regarding the royalty purchase agreement is provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by MacroGenics with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
As of March 31, 2025, MacroGenics had
About ZYNYZ
ZYNYZ (retifanlimab-dlwr) is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1), indicated in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel (platinum-based chemotherapy) for the first-line treatment of adult patients with inoperable locally recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (SCAC) and as a single agent for the treatment of adult patients with locally recurrent or metastatic SCAC with disease progression or intolerance to platinum-based chemotherapy in the U.S.
ZYNYZ is also indicated for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) in the U.S. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.
ZYNYZ is marketed by Incyte in the United States.
ZYNYZ is a registered trademark of Incyte.
About MacroGenics, Inc.
MacroGenics (the Company) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The Company generates its pipeline of product candidates primarily from its proprietary suite of next-generation antibody-based technology platforms, which have applicability across broad therapeutic domains. The combination of MacroGenics' technology platforms and protein engineering expertise has allowed the Company to generate promising product candidates and enter into several strategic collaborations with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. For more information, please see the Company's website at www.macrogenics.com. MacroGenics and the MacroGenics logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of MacroGenics, Inc.
About Sagard
Sagard is a multi-strategy alternative asset management firm with over US
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for MacroGenics (“Company”), including statements about the Company’s strategy, future operations, clinical development of and regulatory plans for the Company’s therapeutic candidates, expected timing of the release of clinical updates and safety and efficacy data for the Company’s ongoing clinical trials and other statements containing the words “subject to”, "believe", “anticipate”, “plan”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “potential,” “project”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “would”, “could”, “can”, the negatives thereof, variations thereon and similar expressions, or by discussions of strategy constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks that ZYNYZ’s revenue, expenses and costs may not be as expected, risks relating to ZYNYZ’s market acceptance, competition, reimbursement and regulatory actions; expectations of future milestone payments; the impact of competitive products; business, economic or political disruptions due to catastrophes or other events, including natural disasters, terrorist attacks, civil unrest and actual or threatened armed conflict, or public health crises; our expected cash runway and other risks described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views only as of the date hereof. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as may be required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.
CONTACTS: Jim Karrels, Senior Vice President, CFO 1-301-251-5172 info@macrogenics.com Argot Partners 1-212-600-1902 macrogenics@argotpartners.com
FAQ
What is the value of MacroGenics' royalty deal with Sagard Healthcare Partners?
How long will MacroGenics' cash runway extend after the Sagard deal?
What rights does MacroGenics retain for ZYNYZ after the Sagard deal?
What happens to ZYNYZ royalties after Sagard receives $140 million?
How much cash does MacroGenics (MGNX) have as of March 2025?
