On December 21, 2021 Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) reported the expansion of an existing collaboration and license agreement between its subsidiary, Icagen, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (Press release, Ligand, DEC 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234597533]). The expansion will leverage Icagen’s ion-channel-based discovery technology and unique expertise in small molecule therapeutics targeting transmembrane proteins. This new agreement builds upon the initial December 2020 agreement to identify and develop inhibitors of a specific genetically-validated molecular target relevant to neurological diseases.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
"We are very pleased to expand our collaboration with GSK to include a second neurological target," said Matt Foehr, President and COO of Ligand. "Over the past year this has been a productive relationship combining our technologies and expertise with GSK’s history of successfully working with others to access innovation and deliver next-generation transformational medicines."
"We look forward to strengthening our collaboration to identify genetically-validated targets for neurological diseases utilizing Icagen’s technology," said John Lepore, Senior Vice President, Head of Research, GSK. "Our expanded collaboration provides a framework to advance drug discovery by maximizing the strengths of our two scientific organizations to develop novel drug candidates efficiently and effectively."
In addition to all payments available under the original 2020 collaboration and license agreement, under the terms of the expanded collaboration and license agreement, Ligand will receive an upfront payment of $10 million and is eligible for development and regulatory milestones up to $67.5 million. Furthermore, should the potential new medicine receive regulatory approval in major markets, the deal provides for commercial milestone payments to Ligand of up to $60 million at first commercial sale, and up to $120 million in sales-related milestone payments. Ligand will receive tiered royalties on net sales of any drug that is commercialized by GSK.
Ligand will be responsible for most preclinical activities up to lead optimization, with Ligand and GSK collaborating to identify candidates for entry into IND-enabling studies. GSK has the exclusive option to license any identified molecules and will be responsible for the further development and commercialization of any drug candidates identified through the collaboration.
About Icagen Ion Channel Technology
The Icagen technology is focused primarily on ion channel and transporter novel drug discovery. Ion channels and transporters are key components in a wide variety of biological processes that involve rapid changes in cells and have broad therapeutic applicability including oncology, metabolic disease, pain, neurological diseases, infectious diseases and others. The Icagen technology leverages proprietary expertise in the combination of biological assays, medicinal chemistry, and in silico and computational chemistry applications to enable the discovery of ion channel targeting therapeutics. Partners in the pharmaceutical industry leverage Icagen’s platform to develop first-in-class therapies for patients in need, typically under collaborative arrangements through the time of clinical candidate selection, with partners responsible for subsequent clinical development and commercialization.