Related reports

Partnering scorecard in detail

1. Boston Scientific - Cordis

February 2010 - Cardio, medical device - Headline value: US$1,725m

Agreement with Boston Scientific resolving two Delaware litigations related to Cordis's Palmaz and Gray patents and Boston Scientific's Jang patents. Under the terms of the agreement, Cordis will receive $1.725 billion from Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson expects to record the majority of this payment as a special item in the first quarter of 2010.

Boston Scientific will pay Cordis $1 billion by close of business on Feb. 1, 2010 and $725 million on Jan. 3, 2011. Read CurrentPartnering's view of the settlement

2. GSK - Isis

March 2010 - Infection - Discovery - Headline value: US$1,500m

Under the terms of the agreement, which covers up to six programs, Isis will receive an upfront $35 million payment from GSK and is eligible to receive on average up to $20 million in milestones per program up to Phase 2 proof-of-concept (PoC). GSK will have the option to license compounds at PoC, and will be responsible for all further development and commercialization. Isis will be eligible to receive license fees and milestone payments, totaling nearly $1.5 billion, in the event all six programs are successfully developed for one or more indications and commercialized through to pre-agreed sales targets. In addition, Isis will receive up to double-digit royalties on sales from any product that is successfully commercialized. Read our own take on this partnership

3. Arena - Eisai

July 2010 - weight loss - commercialisation - headline value: $1,300m

Eisai, maker of the world’s best-selling Alzheimer’s treatment Aricept, will pay Arena the equivalent of about a third of the revenue it gets from the drug, lorcaserin, according to a statement from the San Diego-based company today. Arena also gets an initial payment of $50 million and $90 million more when the treatment is approved and ready for sale.

Arena said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is slated to decide by Oct. 22 on whether to approve lorcaserin.

In exchange for exclusive U.S. marketing rights, Eisai will pay Arena 31.5 percent of revenue from lorcaserin, and as much as 36.5 percent on the portion of annual sales exceeding $750 million, according to the statement. Read our own article on the Eisai/Arena partnership

4. AstraZeneca - Rigel

February 2010 - Inflamm - Phase I - Headline value: $1,245m

AstraZeneca will make an upfront payment to Rigel of $100 million with up to an additional $345 million payable if specified development, regulatory and first commercial sale milestones are achieved. Rigel will also be eligible to receive up to an additional $800 million of specified sales-related milestone payments if the product achieves considerable levels of commercial success, as well as significant stepped double-digit royalties on net sales worldwide. AstraZeneca is responsible for all development, regulatory filings, manufacturing and global commercialisation activities in all licensed indications under the contract. Take a look at our own article

5. Forest - TransTech

June 2010 - License agreement - Headline value $1,105 billion

TransTech Pharma and Forest Laboratories Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest Laboratories, Inc. have entered into a license agreement for the development and commercialization of small molecule compounds discovered and developed by TransTech Pharma. These compounds are functionally liver-selective Glucokinase Activators (GKAs), which represent a novel class of glucose-lowering agents for the treatment of diabetes.

Through the license agreement, Forest will provide to TransTech Pharma an upfront license payment of $50 million. TransTech Pharma could receive up to $1.105 billion in upfront and milestone payments for the successful development and commercialization of the GKA compounds. Forest will also pay TransTech Pharma royalties on worldwide product sales and will be responsible for development and commercialization costs. TransTech Pharma retains the rights to the Middle East and North Africa, while Forest receives exclusive rights to the rest of the worldwide market. The portfolio licensed by Forest consists of a lead compound, TTP399, which has completed Phase I studies and other compounds in Phase I and pre-clinical stages of development. Read our own article on Forest/TransTech here

6. Merial - Intervet, Schering-Plough

March 2010 - Joint venture - Headline value US$1,000m

Exercised option to combine Merial with Intervet/Schering-Plough, Merck’s Animal Health business, to create a global leader in Animal Health.

The new joint venture will be equally-owned by Merck and sanofi-aventis. The formation of this new animal health joint venture is subject to execution of final agreements, antitrust review in the United States, Europe and other countries and other customary closing conditions. The completion of the transaction is expected to occur in approximately the next 12 months. Read our own article here

7. Novartis - Transgene

March 2010 - Oncology - Phase II - Headline value: US$1,000m

Transgene has granted Novartis an option to acquire an exclusive worldwide license for TG4010 and Novartis will pay Transgene a $10 million non-refundable option fee. Contingent upon the exercise of the option by Novartis and the achievement of successful development, regulatory and commercial milestones in various indications, Transgene is eligible to receive up to a total of approximately €700 million.

According to the agreement, Transgene will initially fund and retain control over the next clinical development phase of TG4010, which is a pivotal, global phase IIb/III clinical trial that Transgene currently anticipates starting by the end of 2010. This study will involve approximately 1,000 patients with MUC1-positive NSCLC who have normal levels of activated Natural Killer (NK) cells at time of trial entry1. The final results are expected to become available by the end of 2013. Read our own view on the deal

8. Regulus - Sanofi-Aventis

June 2010 - discovery and development partnership - headline value: $750m

Regulus Therapeutics Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis announced today that they have entered into a global, strategic alliance to discover, develop, and commercialize microRNA therapeutics. The alliance represents the largest microRNA partnership formed to date, valued at potentially over $750 million, and includes a $25 million upfront fee, a $10 million future equity investment subject to mutual agreement on company valuation, and annual research support for three years with the option to extend two additional years. The alliance will initially focus on the therapeutic area of fibrosis. Regulus and sanofi-aventis will collaborate on up to four microRNA targets, including Regulus’ lead fibrosis program targeting microRNA-21. sanofi-aventis also receives an option for a broader technology alliance that provides Regulus certain rights to participate in development and commercialization of resulting products. If exercised, this three-year option is worth an additional $50 million to Regulus.

9. GSK - Cellzome

March 2010 - Immun, Inflamm - Discovery - Headline value: US$690m

The companies will work together using Cellzome’s Episphere™ technology platform, to identify selective small-molecule drug candidates against targets from four different epigenetic target classes. The companies will share operational responsibility for the programs until identification of drug candidates, at which stage GSK will assume responsibility for any further preclinical and clinical development and commercialisation.

Under the financial terms, Cellzome will receive an upfront payment of €33 million, comprising technology access fees and the purchase of equity. In addition, Cellzome is eligible for milestone payments and tiered royalties for each programme. Milestone payments under this collaboration could reach over €475 million if all programmes under the alliance are successfully developed and commercialised. Read our own take on this deal

10. Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceutical - Diamyd Medical AB

June 2010 - development and commercialisation partnership - headline value: $625 million

Under the terms of the agreement, OMJPI will make an upfront payment of $45 million. In addition, Diamyd has the potential to receive additional development and sales milestone payments of up to $580 million, as well as tiered royalties on future sales. The parties will equally share costs for the development program until results from the ongoing EU phase III study, expected in the first half of 2011. OMJPI has the right to fully assume responsibility for the development program upon reviewing the results.

As part of the agreement, Diamyd has secured exclusive rights for commercialization in the Nordic countries. Diamyd also retains the rights to the therapeutic use of the GAD65 gene and derivatives, fragments and variants of the GAD65 protein.

The transaction is expected to close by September 2010, contingent upon clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Anti-Trust Improvements Act.

Destum Partners Inc. has supported Diamyd in the partner search and acted as advisor through the due diligence process. Read our own article on the OMJ/Diamyd commercialisation agreement

11. Johnson & Johnson - Orexo

June 2010 - Respiratory - Preclinic - Headline value: $585 million

Research and development alliance and license agreement with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Janssen Pharmaceutica. The licenses granted to OMJ under the agreement include worldwide licenses to Orexo’s ongoing OX-CLI and OX-ESI programs focusing on discovering and developing innovative small-molecule treatments for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other inflammatory diseases. In addition, OMJ will add a third internal program focusing on discovering and developing innovative small-molecules against an undisclosed target to the alliance on the same financial terms.

Initially, the agreement will run for three years, with an option for OMJ to extend the alliance and funding. To Orexo, the alliance will bring a research funding contribution of up to USD 21.5 million (SEK 167 million) over the first three years, including an upfront payment of USD 10 million (SEK 77.8 million).

Upon the successful development and commercialization of all three initial alliance programs for multiple indications, Orexo will be entitled to total development milestone payments of up to USD 564 million (SEK 4,390 million), plus additional sales milestones for each program. Commercialized products will also provide royalties.

In addition, the agreement grants Orexo an option for rights to co-promote drugs from the programs marketed by OMJ in Nordic and Baltic countries. OMJ will be responsible for all clinical development and commercialization activities, including costs. Read our own article on the J&J/Orexo deal

12. Merck - Ariad

May 2010 - Oncology - Phase II, III - Headline value: US$583m

ARIAD has granted Merck an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize ridaforolimus in oncology, and Merck will assume responsibility for all ridaforolimus activities, including clinical trials and regulatory filings. Both companies had previously shared co-exclusive rights.

Merck will make an upfront cash payment of $50 million to ARIAD and will reimburse ARIAD for its ridaforolimus expenses incurred since January 1, 2010, estimated by ARIAD to be approximately $19 million. Merck will also fund 100 percent of future ridaforolimus development, manufacturing and commercialization costs, effective immediately.

ARIAD will be eligible to receive up to $514 million in regulatory and sales milestones based on the successful development and commercialization of ridaforolimus in multiple indications. This includes $65 million in milestones associated with the potential sarcoma indication, which currently is in Phase 3 clinical development (i.e., $25 million for acceptance of the new drug application by the FDA, $25 million for U.S. marketing approval, $10 million for European marketing approval, and $5 million for Japanese marketing approval), and $200 million in milestones based on achievement of significant sales thresholds.

Merck will book global sales of ridaforolimus and pay ARIAD tiered double-digit royalties on global net sales of ridaforolimus. In addition to now receiving royalties on U.S. sales in lieu of a profit split, these global royalty rates are approximately one-third greater than the royalty rates that ARIAD would have received for ex-U.S. sales under the original collaboration agreement with Merck.

ARIAD will have an option to co-promote ridaforolimus with up to 20 percent of the sales effort for the product in all indications in the U.S., and Merck will compensate ARIAD for its ridaforolimus sales efforts. Read our own article on this collaboration

13. Neurocrine - Abbott

June 2010 - licensing deal - headline value: US$575m

Abbott Laboratories, Inc. and Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop and commercialise elagolix for the treatment of endometriosis-related pain.

Under the terms of agreement, Abbott will receive worldwide exclusive rights to develop and commercialise elagolix and all next-generation GnRH antagonists for women's and men's health. Abbott will make an upfront payment of $75 million and will fund all ongoing development activities. Neurocrine is eligible to receive additional milestone payments of approximately $500 million from Abbott for the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones; funding for certain internal collaboration expenses; plus royalty payments on any future product sales. Read our own article on the Neurocrine/Abbott partnership

14. Roche - Galagagos

January 2010 - Respiratory - Discovery - Headline value: US$570m

In the alliance, Galapagos will apply its target discovery platform to discover novel COPD targets. Galapagos is then responsible for the discovery and development of new small molecule candidate drugs against these targets. Roche will have an exclusive option to license each small molecule program after either clinical candidate selection or completion of Phase I clinical trials. In addition, Roche has an exclusive option to license the COPD targets for the discovery and development of antibodies against these targets. Upon exercise of each option, Roche will be responsible for the further (pre)clinical development and commercialization.

Under the terms of the agreement, Galapagos has received a research access payment of €6 million from Roche. Galapagos is also eligible to receive discovery, development, regulatory and sales milestone payments that could potentially exceed €400 million, plus royalties upon commercialization of any products covered in the agreement. Read CurrentPartnering's view on this deal

15. Astellas - Basilea

February 2010 - Infection - Phase III - Headline value: US$514m

Basilea will receive an upfront payment of CHF 75 million and will be eligible to receive up to CHF 478 million in additional payments on achievement of pre-specified development and sales milestones. Basilea will also receive significant double-digit tiered royalties on sales. Astellas is granted an exclusive right to commercialize isavuconazole whereas Basilea retains an option to co-promote the product in the United States, Canada, major European countries and the People's Republic of China. Basilea and Astellas will jointly participate in the development of isavuconazole. Astellas will lead the development and contribute the majority of the investments required for completing the clinical development program investigating isavuconazole in the treatment of patients with invasive fungal infections caused by Aspergillus or other filamentous fungi (mold infections) and Candida fungi (yeast infections). Basilea will initially manage manufacturing. Astellas has the right to take over the management of manufacturing and will bear manufacturing costs for commercial supply and commercialization costs. See our own article on this deal