Rhythm Amends Bivamelagon Royalty Structure; Secures $750 million in Financing

04:01 AM EST, 11/03/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (RYTM) has amended the royalty structure of its licensing agreement with LG Chem for bivamelagon and secured up to $750 million in financing for the development of the experimental obesity drug, the company said Monday. Under the amendment, Rhythm will now pay an additional $350 million in four parts through September 2029. LG Chem's royalty on global net sales of products in Rhythm's MC4R portfolio will also be changed from low-to-mid-single digits to 1%, starting January 2029, or upon the first commercial sale of bivamelagon. The amendment also includes a further milestone payment of up to $200 million, depending on achievement of $3 billion in annual global net sales of Rhythm's MC4R portfolio. Rhythm entered into the licensing agreement with LG Chem in 2024. Meanwhile, Rhythm also arranged up to $750 million through a term-loan facility from KKR (KKR) in partnership with Blackstone (BX) to fund the amended agreement, commercialization and research and development efforts.