Why Theravance Biopharma Inc Shares Soared Today

What: Shares of Theravance Biopharma jumped by more than 10% in early trading Monday before finishing the day up nearly 7% on news that it had inked a collaborative deal with generics Goliath Mylan to develop a treatment for COPD.

So What: Mylan is handing over a modest $15 million up front and up to $220 million in potential milestone payments to partner on Theravance Biopharma's TD-4208. Mylan is also making a $30 million equity investment in Theravance BioPharma at a price of $18.92 per share.

TD-4208 is a once-daily, long-acting therapy for COPD that is delivered via the mist of a nebulizer, rather than by a handheld device. Theravance Biopharma believes TD-4208's differentiated delivery could help as many as 9% of American COPD patients. If so, that could be a sizable market opportunity. In the United States there are approximately 12.7 million adults diagnosed with COPD, as well as a similar number of people whose COPD might remain undiagnosed.

Now what: Theravance Biopharma is the clinical-stage spinoff of Theravance, the company that helped GlaxoSmithKline develop its next-generation respiratory drugs Breo Ellipta and Anoro Ellipta.

As part of the spinoff, Theravance BioPharma will share in payments made by GlaxoSmithKline to Theravance. However, future growth depends on Theravance Biopharma successfully developing its own in-house pipeline products, including TD-4208, which is expected to enter phase 3 testing this year.

Mylan is a market share-leading maker of nebulized respiratory therapies, so this deal gives Theravance Biopharma a well-heeled development partner and equity owner that is already deeply embedded in TD-4208's target market of prescribing doctors.

Whether those advantages could someday help make TD-4208 a top-selling drug remains uncertain, especially since final phase 3 trials have not yet started. However, it is certainly a strong vote of confidence that is encouraging to investors willing to take the risk of a late-stage failure.

The article Why Theravance Biopharma Inc Shares Soared Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Todd Campbell has no position in any stocks mentioned. Todd owns E.B. Capital Markets, LLC. E.B. Capital's clients may or may not have positions in the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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