Partnership Set To Boost Aptamer Research

An international strategic alliance has been formed to develop and market drugs to treat inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, based on a unique class of molecules known as aptamers.

Aptamers are synthetic oligonucleotides, or short nucleic acid sequences, that bind to protein targets with high affinity and specificity and can be designed to have a specified duration of action. It has been suggested that aptamers have the potential to be developed into therapeutic agents with broad application to treat a variety of human diseases.

To galvanize aptamer-based drug development two leading biotechnology companies are combining efforts. The American firm Archemix (Cambridge, MA, USA) is a biotechnology company that has concentrated for several years on the discovery, development, and commercialization of aptamer therapeutics. Its partner in this endeavor is GlaxoSmithKline (Brentford, United Kingdom), one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

Under the terms of the agreement, Archemix will receive $27.5 million in upfront payments from GlaxoSmithKline, including a $6.5 million equity investment by GlaxoSmithKline in the company. Archemix could also be eligible to receive up to $200 million in development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments for each of the seven aptamer-based therapeutic agents that may be discovered and developed as part of the project. GlaxoSmithKline will have an exclusive license for further development and commercialization of candidate drug products on a worldwide basis.

"We are very excited about this collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline, an outstanding partner with leadership and expertise in inflammation, and we look forward to expanding our efforts in inflammation where aptamers could offer novel options to treat disease," said Dr. Errol DeSouza, president and CEO of Archemix. "This is another step forward in our strategy to leverage our intellectual property estate together with our significant internal capabilities in order to develop aptamers for a variety of therapeutic areas with key partners who are experts in their field."

"This innovative multi-target drug-discovery deal is an important extension of our externalization strategy and provides GlaxoSmithKline with an outstanding opportunity to work with the world leader in aptamer discovery and development," said Dr. Jose Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos, PhD., senior vice president for drug discovery at GlaxoSmithKline. "The application of aptamers with their unique properties is an exciting opportunity that holds enormous potential for the treatment of many devastating diseases of the immune system."

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Archemix
GlaxoSmithKline