Agreements and contracts

Agreements and pacts

The latest pacts from the pharmaceutical supply chain.

New York, NY (Apr. 26)–Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (www.bms.com) and Pfizer, Inc. ( www.pfizer.com) entered into a collaborative agreement for the development and commercialization of apixaban, an anticoagulant that BMS discovered. The companies are studying the ability of apixaban to prevent and treat various venous and arterial thrombotic conditions, including deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

According to the agreement, Pfizer will pay $250 million upfront to BMS and will fund 60% of development costs from January 1, 2007 onward. BMS will pay the remaining development costs. Pfizer may make as much as $750 million in additional payments to BMS, depending on the achievement of developmental and regulatory milestones. The companies will share responsibility for devising the clinical and marketing strategies for apixaban and will divide commercialization expenses, profits, and losses equally.

BMS and Pfizer also agreed to cooperate on the research, development, and commercialization of a Pfizer discovery program. Among the program’s focuses are advanced preclinical compounds that potentially could treat metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes.

Under this agreement, Pfizer will supervise all research and early-stage development activities for the metabolic-disorders program. The companies will conduct Phase III development and commercialization activities jointly. BMS will pay Pfizer $50 million upfront as part of the agreement. Pfizer will assume 60% of development and commercialization expenses, and BMS will assume the remaining portion. The companies will share profits and losses the same way.

Oslo, Norway (Apr. 11)–Affitech AS (www.affitech.com) entered into an agreement with ProBioGen AG (Berlin, www.probiogen.de) to develop a cell line for high-level production of one of Affitech's lead oncology therapeutic antibody candidates. ProBioGen will use its cell-generation process combined with an automated cloning process to identify and develop a high-producing line that is suitable for a fed-batch development process.

Strasbourg, France (Apr. 11)–Transgene S.A. (www.transgene.fr) entered into a collaboration agreement with Roche (Basel, Switzerland, www.roche.com) to develop and commercialize products to treat human papillloma virus (HPV) diseases using Transgene's vaccine program. Transgene currently has a vaccine candidate, TG 4001 (MVA-HPV-IL2), in clinical development. Roche will lead the worldwide development and commercialization of TG 4001 and pay Transgene EUR 13 million up front (approximately $17.5 million) and EUR 10 million (approximately $13.4 million) as a near-term regulatory milestone payment related to planning the Phase III studies.

San Diego, CA (Apr. 9)–MultiCell Technologies, Inc. (www.multicelltech.com) entered into an agreement with active pharmaceutical ingredient and intermediate manufacturer Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals Italy S.p.A. (Padova, Italy, www.lupichem.com). Lundbeck will supply one of the active components of MCT-125, MultiCell's Phase IIb drug for the treatment of chronic fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis.

San Diego, CA (Apr. 5)–Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.adventrx.com) granted a manufacturing contract to Hyaluron Contract Manufacturing (Burlington, MA, www.hyaluron.com) for ANX-514 (docetaxel emulsion), a chemotherapy drug. Hyaluron will manufacture ANX-514 for preclinical and clinical studies.

Redwood City, CA (Apr. 3)–Codexis, Inc. (www.codexis.com) signed a technology collaboration agreement with Merck & Co. (Whitehouse Station, NJ, www.merck.com) related to Codexis's biocatalyst panels. Merck will become the first subscriber to the product, which enables pharmaceutical manufacturers to use the power of biocatalysts to increase research and development and manufacturing productivity. The three-year agreement gives Merck nonexclusive access to Codexis biocataysts for use in its pipeline.