CombinatoRx teams up with Novartis

CombinatoRx Inc. announced an oncology collaboration with Novartis AG, the Swiss drug giant, that will yield CombinatoRx an up-front payment of $4 million.

CombinatoRx is headquartered in Cambridge, where Novartis has a global research unit. A Globe story from last fall noted that Novartis has roughly 2,000 employees in Cambridge.

"The collaboration will explore combination effects in cell lines representing a broad spectrum of cancers to provide a robust and systematic understanding of combination therapy opportunities," CombinatoRx said in a press release.

The release added: "Under the agreement, CombinatoRx will receive a $4 million up-front payment and funding for research support for two years. In addition, for each combination advanced to the market from the collaboration, CombinatoRx is eligible to receive up to $58 million in clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones."

Alexis Borisy, president and chief executive of CombinatoRx, said in a statement, "Our alliance with Novartis further supports our business strategy of leveraging the CombinatoRx drug discovery platform while retaining important product rights."

The company experienced a setback last fall when it said its lead drug candidate missed its main goal in a clinical trial. To read an AP story about that, please click here.

To read today's press release, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)