Avila, Sanofi Aventis sign global alliance
Avila Therapeutics said it has signed a worldwide alliance with French drug maker Sanofi Aventis to discover targeted covalent drugs for the treatment of cancers.
In a press release, Waltham-based Avila said, "Avila will receive up to 40 million US dollars in upfront and research support payments, and is eligible to receive pre-clinical, clinical, & regulatory milestone payments up to 154 million US per collaboration program."
If all conditions of the agreement are met, this deal could be worth more than $800 million to Avila, not including sales milestones and royalties on future sales, a company spokeswoman noted.
Under the agreement, Sanofi Aventis obtains a worldwide exclusive license to develop and commercialize the compounds resulting from the discovery collaboration, the release added.
Over the last several months, Sanofi has been seeking to buy Genzyme Corp., but Genzyme, a Massachusetts biotechnology company, has rejected Sanofi's bids as too low.
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