Nuvelo, Inc. announced that it has entered a new development collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Division of Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd. to advance a potent growth factor, NU206, which entered IND-enabling studies late in 2004.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Nuvelo will receive a $2 million upfront payment from Kirin for NU206 with Nuvelo leading worldwide development, manufacturing and commercialization. All expenses and operating profits will be shared in a 60(Nuvelo)/40(Kirin) ratio while Nuvelo and Kirin are both actively collaborating under the agreement, a Nuvelo press release said.

Scientists from Nuvelo and Kirin worked together to identify and characterize NU206 as part of a longstanding collaboration focused on the discovery of novel, secreted proteins. NU206 is the first compound to move into IND-enabling studies from this program. Research to date indicates that NU206 acts as a specific and potent stimulator of alimentary epithelial cells and therefore could have potential clinical utility in both inflammatory bowel disease and in chemotherapy or radiation therapy induced mucositis.

"The advancement of NU206 is an important milestone achievement that demonstrates Nuvelo's proprietary research can produce novel candidates to supplement our promising late-stage clinical pipeline focused on acute cardiovascular disease," said Dr Michael Levy, senior vice president of research and development for Nuvelo. "In animal disease models, this compound shows promise for treating chemotherapy and radiation therapy induced oral and gastrointestinal mucositis, as well as inflammatory bowel conditions, such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Our collaboration with Kirin has resulted in additional promising leads, and we look forward to progressing other potential candidates in a similar fashion."

"This new partnership further validates our successful relationship with Nuvelo to date," said Toshifumi Mikayama, vice president of planning for Kirin. "We are very pleased with the productive outcome of the collaboration with Nuvelo. Nuvelo's novel gene sequences and target identification capabilities coupled with Kirin's proprietary technologies have yielded a promising early-stage product candidate in NU206."