SkyePharma gets long-awaited Flutiform partner

The UK's SkyePharma has inked a $165 million licensing deal ($25 million of which is up front) with Kos Pharmaceuticals for the U.S. marketing rights to Flutiform for asthma, its lead drug candidate. It's good news for SkyePharma, which has been seeking a partner on the drug for three years. The biotech company saw its shares surge on the news, even though some analyst's enthusiasm for the deal was tempered by the fact that SkyePharma hadn't landed a larger partner for the drug. Flutiform is in Phase III trials and SkyePharma believes it has the potential to earn a billion dollars a year in revenue.

- here's the Telegraph's report on the licensing deal