Toyama Chemical Co Ltd has entered into a research and development collaboration and license agreement with respect to creating novel antibacterial agents from GSK's compound library.

According to a release, GSK would screen compounds within its compound bank against certain targets owned by GSK. Toyama Chemical will optimize hit compounds from GSK's screening. Toyama Chemical will develop and commercialize the optimized compounds in Japan. Toyama Chemical has the option to co-commercialize compounds in China and South Korea.

Toyama Chemical will receive milestone payments based on certain development milestones being reached by GSK and will get royalties from GSK based on the net sales of the product worldwide except Japan, China and South Korea. The Company will pay royalties to GSK based on the net sales of the product in Japan.

GSK will collaborate with Toyama to expand and complement GSK's internal anti-microbial drug discovery capabilities with respect to optimizing novel compounds. Toyama has developed excellent novel antibacterial agents, which were supported by its predominant synthetic capability. Toyama Chemical will utilize its expertise in R&D in the strategic alliance with GSK, and seeks to attract other collaborators in order to gain a global presence, the release added.