EUSA Pharma acquires world rights to Sylvant to treat Castleman's disease.

EUSA Pharma announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of the worldwide rights to Sylvant (siltuximab) from Janssen Sciences Ireland UC (Janssen) for $115 million in cash. Sylvant is approved in more than 40 countries for the treatment of idiopathic multicentric Castleman's disease (iMCD), and is the only approved treatment in the United States and Europe for the condition. EUSA intends to commercialize Sylvant through its worldwide commercial platform, which it plans to expand further into a number of new markets.

Sylvant is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the action of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a multifunctional cytokine detected at elevated levels in iMCD patients. iMCD is a rare, life-threatening and debilitating lymphoproliferative disorder, which causes abnormal overgrowth of immune cells, and shares many symptomatic and histological features with lymphoma. iMCD can affect individuals at any age and has an estimated incidence of up to 1,900 patients in the United States with a similar number in Europe. Consequently, Sylvant has Orphan Market Exclusivity in both territories.

EUSA is currently plannning to invest in developing Sylvant in additional indications where IL-6 blockade may be indicated. Among these, the company is looking into Cytokine Release Syndrome associated with CAR-T therapy.