Navidea sells Lymphoseek to Cardinal Health for up to $310M; shares up 5%

• Navidea Biopharmaceuticals (NAVB +4.7%) perks up on the news that it has inked an asset purchase agreement with Cardinal Health (CAH +0.5%) selling Lymphoseek (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept).
• Under the terms of the deal, Navidea will receive $80M at closing and up to $230M in milestones through 2026, with $20.1M guaranteed over the next three years. Also, Cardinal will license a portion of the intellectual property back to Navidea to allow it to develop and market new immunodiagnostic and immunotherapeutic products in North America while continuing to produce and market Lymphoseek ex-North America under a different brand name.
• The transaction should close in Q1.