Acadia to make $100M profit from selling pediatric review voucher for $150M

Acadia Pharmaceuticals has bagged $150 million from the sale of a priority review voucher (PRV)—although the biotech will only be able to keep two-thirds of the windfall.

The company received the rare pediatric disease PRV from the FDA in March 2023 following the approval of the Rett syndrome drug Daybue. The drug was licensed from Neuren Pharmaceuticals, who are in line for the remaining third of the voucher sale proceeds.

Acadia didn’t reveal the identity of the voucher’s new owner, but the $150 million price is above the typical going rate for pediatric PRVs, which have tended to trade around the $100 million mark. The FDA has set out plans to begin sunsetting the rare pediatric designation PRV program from the end of this year.

With $100 million going into Acadia’s pocket, the biotech said it would invest the proceeds to “support its commercial operations, R&D programs in central nervous system and rare disease, and future business development.”

Acadia ended June with $500 million in cash and equivalents, having brought in $242 million from sales of Daybue and  Parkinson’s disease psychosis drug Nuplazid in the second quarter.