VANCOUVER, British Columbia— QLT Inc. (Nasdaq:QLTI) (TSX:QLT) said it has been advised by Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. that Auxilium's board of directors has reviewed an offer from Endo International plc to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Auxilium. After consulting with its financial advisors and outside legal counsel, Auxilium has determined that the Endo proposal is a superior proposal under the terms of the agreement and the plan of merger (the merger agreement) among QLT, Auxilium, QLT Holding Corp., and QLT Acquisition Corp., dated June 25, 2014.

Accordingly, Auxilium has delivered a notice of termination of the merger agreement and has, in accordance with the merger agreement, agreed to concurrently pay to QLT a termination fee in the amount of $28.4 million, QLT said.

Jason Aryeh, the chairman of the board of directors of QLT said, "We are obviously disappointed that the merger with Auxilium did not complete. In light of this development, we will immediately re-engage in our assessment of all potential strategic options."

QLT is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative ocular products that address the unmet medical needs of patients and clinicians worldwide and is focused on developing a synthetic retinoid program for the treatment of certain inherited retinal diseases.