Pharmacopeia, an innovator in the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics, announces the formation of a drug discovery, development and commercialization alliance with Cephalon, Inc., a leading global biopharmaceutical company.

The financial terms of the agreement call for Cephalon to pay Pharmacopeia an up-front programme access fee of $15 million.

According to the release, the primary objective of the alliance is to identify active molecules and bring them forward to clinical proof of concept, yielding novel candidates for drug development in various therapeutic areas. Under the terms of the agreement, Cephalon will be responsible for identifying promising compounds. The companies will then work collaboratively to advance the lead compounds to clinical candidates. Pharmacopeia will be principally responsible for medicinal chemistry and primary biology, while Cephalon will provide further biology support as required by the collaboration.

Upon nomination, if any, of clinical candidates, Cephalon will be primarily responsible for their development and commercialization. Pharmacopeia retains an option to develop candidates from the collaboration, subject to Cephalon's agreement. Further, the company commercializing each resulting product will pay the non-commercializing company up to double digit royalties based on the sales level achieved.

"I am especially pleased to be teaming up with Cephalon, a true leader in our industry," said Les Browne, president and CEO of Pharmacopeia. "I believe Pharmacopeia has unique discovery capabilities that match up exceptionally well with Cephalon's therapeutic area strengths. This collaboration is consistent with our desire to build the business by focusing on internal programs while establishing a select number of high-value collaborations with leaders in our industry," he added.

"Cephalon has been very successful at producing proprietary lead series against novel targets, so we are excited to be able to establish this alliance with Pharmacopeia," said Jeffry L. Vaught, Cephalon's executive VP of research and development. "With Pharmacopeia's track record of producing clinical candidates, we have the right partner to help us meet our objective of a continual flow of innovative therapeutics," he added.