On April 15, 2020, Kindred Biosciences (KindredBio), a biopharmaceutical company focused on saving and improving the lives of pets, announced that it has completed the sale of Mirataz® (mirtazapine transdermal ointment), a topical medication for use in cats, to Dechra Pharmaceuticals for an upfront payment of $43 million and royalties on worldwide sales. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati represented Kindred Biosciences in the transaction.

Dechra has commercial sales and marketing teams in 25 countries, and distributor relationships in an additional 68 countries, positioning it strongly to market Mirataz in the United States, Europe, and globally. Dechra plans to launch Mirataz in the UK and the European Union, and intends to conduct the necessary regulatory activities to achieve approvals in other key international markets. Royalties on future global sales of Mirataz by Dechra will be recorded by KindredBio as revenue.

KindredBio's mission is to bring to pets the same kinds of safe and effective medicines that human family members enjoy. The company's strategy is to identify targets that have already demonstrated safety and efficacy in humans and to develop therapeutics based on these validated targets for dogs and cats. KindredBio has a deep pipeline of novel biologics in development across many therapeutic classes, alongside state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing capabilities and a broad intellectual property portfolio.

The Wilson Sonsini team advising KindredBio in the transaction includes partners Elton Satusky, Lowell Segal, and Myra Sutanto Shen and associates Brendan Mahan, Brian Appel, and RJ Lang.

For more information, please see KindredBio's press release.