GSK PARTNERS WITH VERTEX TO DEVELOP NEW PAIN DRUG
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is partnering with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to commercialize
VX-409, Vertex's investigational pain drug.
Vertex will receive a $20 million up-front payment and could receive up to an
additional $385 million in development and sales threshold milestone payments
based on the development of VX-409 and back-up compounds in major pharmaceutical
markets across a range of indications. GSK will also pay the Cambridge, Mass.-based
Vertex royalties on annual net sales.
VX-409 is a subtype selective sodium channel modulator the first of a
new class of agents targeting specific pain signals in nerve cells. Phase I
clinical development of VX-409 is expected to begin early in 2007.
GSK will have the exclusive right and license to develop and commercialize VX-409
and back-up compounds worldwide.