TransTech Pharma's new licensing deal could be worth $100M
Saturday, March 07, 2015
A new licensing agreement recently inked by TransTech Pharma for one of its cancer treatment programs could mean an infusion of more than $100 million for the High Point pharmaceutical firm.
TransTech Pharma and High Point Pharmaceuticals, the sister company spun off from TransTech in 2008, will partner with Calithera Biosciences, a San Francisco-area clinical stage pharmaceutical company, under the new agreement.
Along with an initial license fee of $600,000 from Calithera, the High Point companies will receive up to $30.5 million for the first licensed product generated by their research and up to $77 million in sales-based milestones and royalty payments once the product hits the market, according to a filing by Calithera with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Additionally, Calithera is offering $1.1 million during the first year of the partnership to fund four full-time employees for High Point Pharmaceuticals to work on the research.
That research is directed at inhibiting the hexokinase II enzyme, which allows cancer cells to convert glucose to energy and the building blocks that are necessary for those cancer cells to continue growing.
TransTech Pharma President and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Holcombe said these inhibitors were discovered using TransTech's "Translational Technology" that has been used in its other clinical and preclinical programs.
"We selected Calithera because of their extensive expertise and focus in tumor metabolism research and development and look forward to our continued partnership," Holcombe said in a statement.
Source : http://www.bizjournals.com/
