Biopharmaceutical company Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq:RPRX) reported on Thursday the completion of the acquisition of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc's (Nasdaq:DRNA) royalty interest in OXLUMO (lumasiran) for up to USD240m.

The payment to Dicerna includes an upfront cash payment of USD180m and up to USD60m in contingent sales-based milestone payments.

Marketed by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc, OXLUMO is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of primary hyperoxaluria (PH) type 1. Primary hyperoxaluria (PH) is a family of ultra-rare, life-threatening genetic disorders that initially manifest with complications in the kidneys.

Under the 2020 non-exclusive intellectual property cross-license agreement between Dicerna and Alnylam related to the companies' PH programmes, Dicerna is entitled to royalties in the mid to high single digits based on OXLUMO global net sales.

This transaction, together with Dicerna's cash, cash equivalents, held-to-maturity investments and anticipated milestone and other payments, is expected to extend its projected cash runway and be sufficient to fund current clinical and operating plan into 2024.