BioMarin Re-Acquires Rights to Kuvan in Canada From Merck Serono

NOVATO, Calif., December 18, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. announced today that it has re-acquired the Canadian rights for tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), including Kuvan(TM) (sapropterin dihydrochloride), from Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Kuvan is an oral small molecule for the treatment of phenylketonuria (PKU) developed in partnership with Merck Serono. Based on published literature, there are approximately 1,200 to 1,500 people under the age of 40 with PKU in Canada

Acquiring rights to Kuvan in Canada allows BioMarin to better coordinate commercialization efforts in the North American market," said Stephen Aselage, Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Development of BioMarin. "This agreement with Merck Serono comes at an exciting time for the company and the PKU community after Kuvan was approved in the United States last week."

The terms of the agreement specify a reduction in royalties owed to BioMarin on Merck Serono sales outside the United States and Japan. Based on the structure of the amended agreement, the reduction in royalties cannot exceed an undisclosed cap.