Epix will collaborate with GlaxoSmithKline
Biotech drug developer Epix Pharmaceuticals Inc. and British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said today that they will collaborate to develop drugs based on four proteins responsible for actions between and inside cells.
Under the agreement, Epix will get an upfront payment of $35 million, including a $17.5 million purchase of 3 million shares of stock. The companies will target a family of proteins known as G-protein coupled receptors for a variety of diseases. The collaboration includes further development of Epix's experimental Alzheimer's disease treatment.
Epix stands to earn up to $1.2 billion in milestone payments for drugs developed from the four protein targets, and double-digit royalties on product sales. Epix will be responsible to bring the compounds to the prototype stage and GlaxoSmithKline will have an exclusive option to further development.
If GlaxoSmithKline chooses to license the Alzheimer's disease treatment, Epix will retain rights to co-promote the product in the United States.
As a result of the agreement, Epix forecast it will end 2006 with more than $100 million in cash and securities, and will have enough to fund operations through 2008. (AP)
