Exelixis Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company have announced a worldwide collaboration to discover, develop and commercialise novel targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer.

Under the collaboration, which will become effective upon antitrust clearance, Exelixis will deploy its drug discovery platform and be fully responsible for the identification and pre-clinical development of small molecule drug candidates directed against mutually selected targets.

Bristol- Myers Squibb will have the right to select up to three Investigational New Drug (INDs) candidates against three different targets. Following selection by Bristol-Myers Squibb, the company will lead all global activities, although the parties will co-develop and co-commercialise the programmes in the United States.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay to Exelixis an upfront payment of $60 million in cash. Exelixis will also receive $20 million for each of up to three different drug candidates selected by Bristol-Myers Squibb at IND. The parties plan to equally share development costs, commercial profits and co-promotion responsibilities in the United States. Exelixis will also receive royalties on product sales outside of the United States. For each program selected by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exelixis may opt out of the co-development or co-promotion in the United States, in which case Exelixis would receive milestones and royalties in lieu of a US profit share.

"We are very pleased to collaborate with BMS on the discovery and development of novel treatments for cancer," said George A. Scangos, PhD, president and chief executive officer of Exelixis. "This collaboration will capitalize on the power of Exelixis' drug discovery engine and on the breadth and depth of BMS' expertise in oncology. We have had excellent, productive collaborations with BMS in oncology since 2000, and I am confident that this new collaboration will build on the excellent relationship between the companies and on the knowledge that we have generated during those years."

"Bristol-Myers Squibb is dedicated to addressing areas of serious medical need, and oncology remains one of the cornerstones of our research and development efforts," said Francis Cuss, M.D., senior vice president of Drug Discovery for Bristol-Myers Squibb. "We have a long-standing and productive history of collaboration with Exelixis and are pleased to expand our partnership to include the discovery and development of novel, targeted oncology therapies."

Exelixis, Inc. 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.