Nuvelo became the latest biotech company to ink a big new licensing deal, signing a $385 million pact with Germany's Bayer for its blood clot dissolver Alfimeprase. The deal includes a $50 million up front payment in cash with a schedule of milestones for the drug, which is in Phase III trials. Bayer will pick up 40 percent of the global development costs of the drug, leaving Nuvelo in the lead role in pushing the drug through the development stage. Bayer gains the rights to commercialize the drug outside the US market. Alfimeprase is being studied as a therapy for arterial blockages. If successful, the drug is expected to hit the US market in 2008 with Europe following a year later. Nuvelo's stock surged on the news.
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