Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Thursday said US-based Exelixis Inc has announced entering into an exclusive collaboration with its arm Aurigene Discovery Technologies.
The agreement gives Exelixis, an oncology-focused biotechnology firm, the opportunity to in-license as many as six programmes from Aurigene, as per a statement by Exelixis Inc, Dr Reddy's said.
Under the terms of the agreement, Exelixis will make an upfront payment of USD 10 million for exclusive options to license three pre-existing programmes from Aurigene, it added.
In addition, Exelixis and Aurigene will initiate three Aurigene-led drug discovery programmes on mutually agreed upon targets, in exchange for additional option payments of USD 2.5 million per programme, the statement by Exelixis said.
Exelixis will also contribute research funding to Aurigene to facilitate discovery and preclinical development work on all six programmes, it added.
As the programmes mature, Exelixis will have the opportunity to exercise an exclusive option for each programme up until the time of investigational new drug (IND) acceptance, the statement said.
"If Exelixis decides to exercise an option, it will make an option exercise payment to Aurigene and assume responsibility for that programme's future clinical development and commercialisation including global manufacturing," it added.
Aurigene will be eligible for clinical development, regulatory, and sales milestones, as well as royalties on sales. Under the terms of the agreement, Aurigene retains limited development and commercial rights for India and Russia.
"Aurigene has deep expertise exploring novel mechanisms of action for discovering new, effective treatments for patients with cancer," Aurigene CEO Murali Ramachandra said.
Exelixis demonstrated success in bringing oncology therapies to market, as well as its own legacy of drug discovery expertise, make it a natural partner for Aurigene, he added.
"Our collaboration has the potential to enhance Exelixis early-stage pipeline with promising therapeutic candidates while mitigating financial risk for Exelixis through a success-based payment structure," Exelixis Chief Scientific Officer and Executive VP Scientific Strategy Peter Lamb said.
Exelixis is excited to start working with Aurigene and is hopeful that the partnership will result in multiple clinical-stage compounds and, eventually, therapies that may benefit patients with cancer, he added.
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