DRI Healthcare Trust Announces Acquisition of Royalty on Oracea®

- Oracea^® is the only branded oral prescription medication indicated for papulopustular rosacea -

TORONTO, Sept. 30, 2021 /CNW/ - DRI Healthcare Trust (TSX: DHT.UN) (TSX: DHT.U) ("DRI" or "the Trust") today announced that a wholly-owned subsidiary of DRI has acquired a royalty interest in Oracea® for a net purchase price of US$46.4 million.

"We are very pleased to announce the addition of Oracea® to our portfolio," said Behzad Khosrowshahi, Chief Executive Officer of DRI Healthcare Trust. "It has an established commercial track record and is among the top available treatment options for managing papulopustular rosacea, which can have a substantial negative quality of life impact. This transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to the Trust and further benefits unitholders through diversification of DRI's portfolio by therapeutic area and marketer."

Oracea® (doxycycline) is a prescription therapy indicated for the treatment of inflammatory lesions (papules and pustules) of rosacea in adult patients. Marketed by Galderma Laboratories, Inc., a subsidiary of Galderma SA., sales of Oracea® commenced in 2006 upon its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA").  The royalty entitlement associated with Oracea® is on the worldwide sales of Oracea® and is expected to expire in the first quarter of 2028.

As part of the transaction, DRI also acquired royalty interests in two additional products, neither of which expected to make a material contribution to DRI's royalty income. On closing, DRI received its first royalties of approximately US$3.5 million, related to sales for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, which was netted from the purchase price.

About Oracea®

Oracea® is a once-daily oral prescription therapy indicated for the treatment of rosacea, an inflammatory skin condition.  Oracea® is formulated as a controlled release oral capsule containing 40 mg of active drug, doxycycline monohydrate, where 30 mg are immediate release and 10 mg are delayed release beads.  The 40 mg capsules provide a sub-antimicrobial dose of doxycycline that reduces the inflammatory response in patients with Rosacea.  Oracea® was approved by the FDA in May 2006 and launched by CollaGenex (subsequently acquired by Galderma) in July 2006.

About Papulopustular Rosacea

Rosacea is a common skin condition that is characterized by facial flushing and a spectrum of clinical signs, including erythema, telangiectasia (spider veins), coarseness of skin and an inflammatory papulopustular eruption resembling acne. The global ROSacea COnsensus (ROSCO) panel and The National Rosacea Society classify rosacea into four phenotypes based on clinical signs and symptoms: flushing, papulopustular, phymatous and ocular. Papulopusutular rosacea tends to occur in patients with moderate to severe disease and results in patients presenting with numerous inflammatory papules or pustules which can have a significant psychosocial impact due to its effect on the patients' physical appearance. Moderate to severe rosacea has also been associated with hyperlipidemia, hypertension, metabolic, cardiovascular, and GI diseases.  Studies have indicated that Rosacea has an estimated prevalence of 5-12 percent of adults, including one where the papulopustular subtype made up 25 percent of Rosacea cases.

About DRI Healthcare Trust

DRI Healthcare Trust provides unitholders with differentiated exposure to the anticipated growth in the global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology markets. Our business model is focused on managing and growing a diversified portfolio of pharmaceutical royalties with the aim to deliver attractive growth in cash royalty receipts over the long term. DRI Healthcare Trust is an unincorporated open-ended trust governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, externally managed by its manager, DRI Capital Inc. DRI Healthcare Trust's units are listed and trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canadian dollars under the symbol "DHT.UN" and in U.S. dollars under the symbol "DHT.U".

Caution concerning forward-looking statements

This news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "expect", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "aim", "plan", "believe", "budget", "estimate", "forecast", "foresee", "close to", "target" or negative versions thereof and similar expressions. Some of the specific forward-looking information in this news release may include, among other things, statements that our royalty interest in Oracea® is expected to be immediately accretive to the Trust and that such royalty interest is expected to expire in the first quarter of 2028. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Trust's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those that are disclosed in the Trust's most recent annual information form. The forward-looking information in this news release is based on our assumptions regarding the performance of our royalty interest in Oracea®, including with respect to worldwide sales. All forward-looking information in this news release speaks as of the date of this news release. The Trust does not undertake to update any such forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law. Additional information about these assumptions and risks and uncertainties is contained in the Trust's filings with securities regulators, including its latest annual information form and Management's Discussion and Analysis. These filings are also available at the Trust's website at dricapital.com.

SOURCE DRI Healthcare Trust