Company: LGNZZ
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000886163-25-000012
Chunk: 4

Company: LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 4
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 excellent examples of successful platform technology investments. 

We have a specific set of criteria we use to assess potential investments. The first is time to cash flow, as we seek products that are within a few years of regulatory approval and commercialization. Typically, this means we invest in Phase 3 assets, although we also evaluate opportunities to invest from Phase 2 assets to approved assets. In terms of an asset's clinical profile, we are looking for strong data supporting both efficacy and safety, and products which will ultimately deliver significant value to patients and to the healthcare system. We also look for strong market exclusivity, which can be achieved through intellectual property and/or regulatory protections. Structural alignment with our counterparty and the commercial counterparty is also a key criteria of the investments we make. Ultimately, we look for assets with favorable risk-reward profiles, which have above average probability of technical and regulatory success and can be commercialized effectively.

3

Technologies

Through a combination of research and acquisitions, we have created a partnered portfolio with a wide variety of underlying technologies. This diversification provides the added benefits of exposure to a wider breadth of scientific innovation, more licensing opportunities and lower impact of individual patent expiry.

Captisol Technology

Captisol is a patent-protected, chemically modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize the solubility and stability of drugs. This unique technology has enabled FDA-approved products, including Gilead’s Veklury, Amgen’s Kyprolis, Baxter’s Nexterone, and Acrotech Biopharma’s Evomela. There are many Captisol-enabled products currently in various stages of development. We maintain a broad global patent portfolio for Captisol with the latest expiration date in 2033. Other patent applications covering methods of making Captisol, if issued, extend the expiration date to 2041.

In addition to solid Captisol powder, we offer our partners access to cGMP manufactured aqueous Captisol concentrate. This product offering was established in 2017 to reduce cycle time and increase Captisol production capacity for large-volume drug products. We maintain both Type IV and Type V DMFs with the FDA. These DMFs contain manufacturing and safety information relating to Captisol that our licensees can reference when developing Captisol-enabled drugs. We also have active DMFs in Japan, China and Canada. 

NITRICIL Technology Platform

The NITRICIL technology platform was acquired through our Novan acquisition in 2023. This product leverages nitric oxide's naturally