UK biotech signs $230 million deal with Genentech
pharmafile | December 7, 2005 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Â
UK biotech PIramed has signed a collaborative R&D deal with Genentech on a new class of cancer drugs, which could be worth more than $200 million to the home-grown company.
PIramed and Genentech will collaborate on pre-clinical research on drugs which target PI 3-kinase, a key intracellular enzyme involved in a broad range of cancers.
Under the agreement, the UK biotech will receive an upfront fee and milestone payments pending development and regulatory approval, which could amount to $230 million.
PIramed, which was only formed in 2002, will also receive research funding and royalties on sales of commercialised products.
Dr Michael Moore, chief executive officer of PIramed, said: "We believe this alliance with Genentech is one of the largest pre-clinical collaborations ever signed by a UK biotechnology company and is an important deal for PIramed.
"We believe it validates PIramed's leadership position in this novel approach to drug discovery and provides the company with additional resources to develop its growing portfolio of small molecule drug candidates."
Genentech, the world's second biggest biotech with sales of $3.7 billion in 2004, will take full responsibility for clinical development, regulatory approvals, manufacturing and commercialisation.
The deal will help strengthen the US company's pipeline and underlines its commitment to developing its oncology franchise, which includes Herceptin and Avastin.
PIramed has retained its right to commercialise certain products outside of the US, which could mean the UK biotech forming deals for different markets.
Based in Slough, PIramed is focused on drug discovery in oncology and its key financial backers are JP Morgan Partners and Merlin Biosciences.
Specifically, its development is concentrated on new classes of small molecule anti-tumour agents called signal transduction inhibitors (STIs), a class of drugs that includes Bristol-Myers Squibb and ImClone's Erbitux and Novartis' Glivec.
STIs are having a significant impact on cancer treatment and are speeding up a move towards personalised medicines.
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Tuesday , November 08, 2005
