Synta outlines cash flow from Glaxo pact

Synta Pharmaceuticals' new, $1 billion pact with GlaxoSmithKline for the cancer drug elesclomol (code named STA-4783) is expected to open a spigot of cash for the drug developer. In its quarterly report, Synta says that Glaxo is expected to hand over milestone payments of $40 million to $50 million next year as the therapy advances in clinical trials. That's on top of the $80 million upfront provided by Glaxo.

"At the start of this year, we set an ambitious agenda for Synta in 2007: complete an initial public offering; initiate a global, pivotal trial for elesclomol; sign a major partnership agreement; initiate a Phase 1 trial for our Hsp90 inhibitor, STA-9090; and continue to build support for our oncology programs in the scientific community, including presenting survival data from our Phase 2b trial for elesclomol as well as mechanism of action and combination activity results," said Safi Bahcall, Ph.D., CEO of the Lexington, MA-based Synta. "I am pleased to say that we have successfully achieved each of these goals."

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