Exelixis Inc and Boehringer Ingelheim, a global pharmaceutical group of companies headquartered in Germany, have established an exclusive, worldwide collaboration with the aim to discover, develop and commercialise autoimmune disease therapies. The collaboration is focused on the discovery of sphingosine-1-phosphate type-1 receptor (S1P1) agonists. The S1P1 receptor is a central mediator of multiple pathways implicated in a variety of autoimmune diseases.

Under the terms of the agreement, Exelixis will receive a $15 million upfront payment. In addition, Exelixis will potentially receive up to $339 million in milestone payments dependent on the successful achievement of development, regulatory and commercial programme goals and royalties on sales of potential products commercialized under the collaboration.

Exelixis and Boehringer Ingelheim will share responsibility for discovery activities and Boehringer Ingelheim will in addition have sole responsibility for all subsequent pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory, commercial and manufacturing activities.

"This collaboration highlights Exelixis' ability to leverage our discovery capabilities and early-stage pipeline," said George A Scangos, president and chief executive officer of Exelixis. "Our S1P1 agonist programme has identified multiple analogs with potent in vivo activity. With this collaboration, we have the opportunity to transition the programme to a partner with a track record of success in developing and commercializing autoimmune disease therapies while strengthening our financial position."
"This agreement with Exelixis is a strategic fit to Boehringer Ingelheim's immunology research projects for the potential treatment of autoimmune diseases," said professor Andreas Barner, chairman of the Board of Managing Directors and head of Corporate Division Pharma Research, Development and Medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim. "We will apply our expertise in immunology research and our global capabilities in drug development and commercialization to drive the joint project forward with the ultimate aim to help patients."

S1P1 is one of five known GPCRs that are activated by the phospholipid Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P).

Exelixis is a development-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases.