Lyrica Sale Benefits NU Community

By Jennifer Trammell
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Viewed 5560 times.

Back in December, Northwestern sold a portion of its royalty interest in the drug Lyrica for $700 million.

NU chemistry professor Richard Silverman is the principal discoverer of the drug's compound, used to treat nerve pain associated with diabetes and shingles and manage pain caused by fibromyalgia.

This business deal is not a typical transaction.

“To have intellectual property rights, which is what we have on this particular type of drug, result in such a successful product - that is the Lyrica drug - is highly unusual. In other words, this is a blockbuster kind of event,” said Eugene S. Sunshine, Senior Vice President for Business and Finance.

Sunshine says Lyrica's success is based on its broad application. The drug can be used to treat several types of pain and most important, it really works.

After fees are paid, the University will still have what Sunshine calls a “sizeable” amount of money that will go into the University's endowment, helping to support financial aid for undergraduates and fellowships for graduate students. Money will also go toward research and building renovation and construction.

“In the medical community and the pharmaceutical community it helps establish Northwestern as the kind of place that has the kind of faculty and researchers that produce incredible things,” Sunshine said.

A few other colleges across the country have similar sales, but Sunshine says the Lyrica transaction is among the largest.