The Hopes of A Win For Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:FWP) Are Rising

Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:FWP) is a biopharmaceutical company incorporated in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company which has been engaging in this sector since 2005 has been focused on the treatment of inflammations and neurological conditions. As such, the company has been developing proprietary drugs related to this field such as the FP187 drug.

The above has led the company to a market capitalization of $190 million having currently employed 13 employees.

Deal Gone Sour

A deal had initially been signed between Forward Pharma A/S and Biogen Inc. This deal had led Biogen Inc to pay a non-recoverable cash fee of $1.25 billion back in February, a figure which aided them return €917.7 million to their shareholders through a share repurchase. In return, Biogen was to have access to all the intellectual property rights that were held by Forward Pharma A/S, most of which had to do with thoroughly researched drugs that had already gone through or were currently in their clinical trial phase in readiness for the market.

However, this was the beginning of some of the unrest.

Soon after, FWP filed a case that would see them seek to obtain royalties from their counterparty Biogen which would accrue from the sale of their multiple sclerosis drug, Tecfidera. This, being one of their most expensive drugs yet, would lead FWP to receive an amount tending towards $300 million from royalties as from 2021.

This, in the eyes of Biogen, would contravene the $1.2 billion they had earlier paid, an amount which was meant to serve as an expensive insurance policy for the company. As such, the sour deal has been the topic of discussion within the financial markets.

Current Position

The most recent outcome from this has been that Forward Pharma A/S has gone back to court to appeal the court’s initial decision, one that led to their share price plummeting by about 20% in a single day.

Their most recent release pertained the company seeking the reinstatement of an interference that would bar Biogen from using their 11/576,871 patent application. This appeal comes after Biogen lost its case lodged with the US Patent Trials and Appeals Board. As such, the current filing has been done at the Federal Circuit.

FWP announced on 22nd December that it had filed the final brief as they head toward the oral argument about six weeks from now. This alludes to the fact that the case will soon be determined. FWP expects it to be in their favour.

Through this, a new way to strong-arm Biogen into conforming to the wishes of FWP will have been found. Furthermore, given the current rise in the share price rise after the announcement, there are a lot of positive expectations about the outcome of this case. FWP remains hopeful of a win while being mindful that another loss would have negative implications on their share price.

A lot it yet to be seen from both companies going forward.