Exelixis to Receive Milestone Payment

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) announced that it has earned a $10 million milestone payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY).

BMY is making the payment purusant to a collaboration agreement between the companies.  And their joint research focused on compounds targeting retinoic acid-related orphan receptor (ROR).  This is a family of nuclear hormone receptors implicated in inflammatory conditions.

Hence, the milestone payment became due when Bristol-Myers Squibb filed a Clinical Trial Authorization in Europe for a first-in-human study of a RORγt inverse agonist.

“Most of all, Exelixis focuses on #oncology.  However, our legacy of drug discovery across diverse therapeutic areas lives on through our collaborations with our partners.  Hence, this research includes the RORγt inverse agonist program which Bristol-Myers Squibb is now advancing.”  This according to Michael M. Morrissey, Ph.D.  He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Exelixis. “We congratulate Bristol-Myers Squibb on its plans for a first-in-human study.”

From October 2010 to July 2013, Exelixis and Bristol-Myers Squibb engaged in collaborative research around RORγt.  In addition, this included the discovery, optimization, and characterization of RORγt inverse agonists.  Furthermore, Bristol-Myers Squibb would develope and commercialize the results.  As a result, since the end of the collaborative research period Bristol-Myers Squibb has undertaken all further research, development and manufacture.  Most noteworthy, Bristol-Myers Squibb would advance potential commercialization of compounds developed under the collaboration.

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