BMS to pay Exelixis $240M for cancer drugs

Bristol-Myers Squibb has snatched up two Exelixis programs that GSK left behind [1] when it ended its six-year collaboration with Exelixis. The development deal covers two cancer therapies--Exelixis' XL184, which is currently in Phase III trials [2] for medullary thyroid cancer, and XL281, a treatment of patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies in Phase I development. Exelixis gets an upfront cash payment of $195 million for the development and commercialization rights to both programs, and BMS will make another $45 million milestone payment in 2009. The Wall Street Journal notes that this is one of the largest upfront payments a biotech has ever received (the Genzyme/Isis [3] deal was the biggest, at $325 million).

The companies will co-develop and co-promote XL184 in the United States. Exelixis could receive sales performance milestones of up to $150 million and double-digit royalties on sales outside the U.S. If the company decides not to co-develop the drug, it will instead gain $295 million in development and regulatory milestones of up to $295 million in addition to double-digit royalties on XL184. BMS will exclusively develop and commercialize XL281. Exelixis could earn up to $315 million in development milestones, $150 million in sales performance milestones and double-digit royalties sales of any resulting product.

This is the third deal between the drug developers this year. Just last month BMS elected to develop Exelixis' experimental cancer therapy XL413 [4], triggering a $20 million milestone, and in January BMS agreed to develop XL139, also for cancer.

"There have been many attempts to blend the best of big pharma with the best of biotech, and over the years Exelixis and Bristol-Myers Squibb have learned how to do just that. This new collaboration maximizes the capabilities and strengths of each partner and sets the stage for the aggressive development of XL184 and XL281," said Elliott Sigal, BMS's chief scientific officer and president of R&D.

- see the release [5]
- read the WSJ article [6]

Related Articles:
Glaxo leaves Exelixis drugs behind as pact ends [1]
Exelixis pockets $20M in BMS cancer collaboration [7]
Exelixis cuts 10% of workforce [8]