NeoRx Corporation, a cancer therapeutics development company, announced that it has executed an agreement with privately-held Aletheon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the sale and transfer of NeoRx's Pretarget intellectual property to Aletheon. Under the agreement, NeoRx could receive up to $6.6 million in milestone payments if Aletheon achieves certain development goals, plus royalties on potential future product sales.

"We believe our decision to sell the Pretarget technology is in the best interest of our shareholders," said Jack L. Bowman, chairman and CEO of NeoRx. "With our acquisition of AMD473, announced earlier today, and STR, we now have two anti-cancer drugs in advanced stages of clinical development, both of which fit with our manufacturing expertise in small-molecule drugs. Our plan is to focus our clinical and financial resources on these two complementary drug development programs."

In a separate news release issued earlier today, NeoRx announced that it has acquired from AnorMED Inc the worldwide exclusive rights, excluding Japan, to develop, manufacture and commercialize AMD473, a platinum based anti-cancer agent. Last month, NeoRx announced that it had initiated a phase III trial with STR (Skeletal Targeted Radiotherapy) in patients with multiple myeloma.

Pretarget technology is a platform for development of immunotherapeutics that deliver intense doses of cancer-killing agents to tumor cells while sparing healthy tissues.

The Pretarget intellectual property that NeoRx will transfer to Aletheon under the agreement includes a portfolio of United States and foreign issued patents and patent applications, and trademark registrations and applications. Seattle-based Aletheon is a development stage biotherapeutics company.