GlaxoSmithKline, a global pharmaceutical company, and Pharmacopeia, an innovator in the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics, announced that Pharmacopeia will receive a payment of $5 million from GSK. This is the second $5 million payment to be received by Pharmacopeia in connection with the product development and commercialization agreement entered into by the two companies in March 2006.
This payment is triggered by Pharmacopeia's completion of certain early discovery activities established under its agreement with GSK. Pharmacopeia is entitled to a third $5 million payment upon the completion of additional early discovery activities. Pharmacopeia is also entitled to success-based milestone payments totalling up to $83 million per program for any drug development program pursued through the multi-program alliance and up to double-digit royalties on the sales of any products commercialized by GSK from the alliance. Should GSK decline its option to complete pivotal trials of programs resulting from the alliance, Pharmacopeia may independently pursue development of these programs, subject to its obligations to GSK under the agreement.
Hugh Cowley, senior vice president of GSK and head of the Center of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (CEEDD) at GSK noted, "The alliance between the CEEDD and Pharmacopeia is off to a tremendous start, and the CEEDD is very pleased with the progress to date on the several programs underway. We expect the alliance to contribute to GSK's development pipeline in the future, validating the collaboration model we sought to establish under the CEEDD umbrella at GSK."
"The alliance with GSK has proven to be very valuable to Pharmacopeia," said Les Browne, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Pharmacopeia. "Allying our scientific expertise and platform with the insights we obtain from the CEEDD scientists provides an excellent opportunity to develop novel therapeutics and approaches that we believe may one day address some of the most significant unmet medical needs."
GlaxoSmithKline is enhancing the way it discovers and develops drugs by creating a small dedicated team who will feed the GSK pipeline solely through the efforts of its external alliances. The CEEDD (Center of Excellence for External Drug Discovery) was formed as further validation of GSK's strategy to create small, independent and accountable R&D teams (Centers of Excellence for Drug Discovery or CEDDs). In essence, the CEEDD will 'virtualize' a portion of the GSK pipeline; namely, from Target to Clinical PoC, by forming multiple risk-sharing/reward-sharing alliances. Capitalizing on the speed and efficiency of its collaborators will allow GSK to deliver pharmaceuticals products faster to patients.