Exelixis receives $20 million for new anticancer molecule
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Exelixis will receive $20 million in milestones after Bristol-Myers Squibb exercised its option to develop and commercialise Exelixis's XL413, a potential first-in-class anticancer therapy. The late-stage preclinical selective inhibitor of Cdc7, which is thought to play an important role in cancer cells, is thought to be the most clinically advanced inhibitor of its kind. Exelixis will co-develop and co-commercialise XL413 in the US and the two firms will halve profits equally. BMS will be responsible for all non-US activities and Exelixis will receive double-digit royalties on product sales outside the US. XL413 is the second molecule that BMS is taking forward as part of a collaboration the two firms agreed in January 2007 whereby Exelixis identifies preclinical drug candidates against selected targets. This January BMS chose to develop Exelixis's anticancer XL139, an inhibitor of the hedgehog signalling pathway, for which Exelixis also received $20 million.