Hydra Biosciences Inc announced two separate research collaborations with Abbott Laboratories. Under one, teams from the two companies will conduct further animal studies to validate a novel therapy for proliferative vascular diseases. In the second, the two companies will collaborate on a small molecule drug discovery program.

Under the terms of the research collaboration agreements, Hydra Biosciences, Inc. will receive upfront payments, research funding, staggered milestone payments and royalties on commercialized products resulting from the collaborative research programs in identified fields. Hydra may develop and commercialize its licensed technologies in other fields and will continue to vigorously develop its core regeneration technologies internally. Each agreement provides for a Joint Research Committee that will guide the course of the programs.

"Abbott is committed to expanding its product pipeline, using both internal discovery and targets and compounds discovered by early stage companies," stated Jeffrey Leiden, president and chief operating officer of Abbott's Global Pharmaceuticals Group. "The collaborative work of three of Hydra's founders, Drs. David Clapham, Mark Keating and Dean Li, is internationally recognized, and Abbott is delighted to enter into the announced agreements to further develop their technologies that have been licensed to Hydra. We believe the collaborations structured with Hydra have excellent prospects for yielding successful clinical development programs, and Abbott hopes to leverage this model when collaborating with other young companies."

"We could not be more pleased with the opportunity, at this early point in our company's development, to collaborate with two superb teams at Abbott Laboratories to advance Hydra technologies toward promising therapeutics," said Laurie Bartlett Keating, chief executive officer of Hydra Biosciences. "These collaborations will allow Hydra Biosciences to build up key capabilities within our company, and potentially get our proposed products into clinical trials, on a more accelerated time table."

In connection with its collaborations with Hydra, Abbott Laboratories made an equity investment in Hydra, bringing Hydra's total equity to more than $10 million. Hydra's previously announced Series A round of private financing was co-led by Polaris Venture Partners and Abingworth, with New Enterprise Associates, Advanced Technology Ventures and Boston Medical Investors also participating.