Switzerland-based eye care company Alcon has expanded two licensing agreements. First, the company said it would beef up an existing pact with GlaxoSmithKline to include global ophthalmic rights to cilomilast. GSK gets an undisclosed up-front payment in addition to milestone payments, and retains all non-ophthalmic rights to the drug.
In addition to the GSK deal, Alcon expanded its existing drug research alliance with Origenis to discover and develop small molecules that might one day have a role in the treatment of eye diseases. Origenis will earn research and royalty payments; Alcon retains the rights to any products for ophthalmic and nasal applications.
"Alcon's focus is on expanding our research pipeline through targeted collaborations," said Sabri Markabi, M.D. who is Alcon's senior vice president of research and development and chief medical officer. "We believe the cilomilast compound has potential for treating dry eye as well as other ophthalmic conditions. The expansion of our already successful arrangement with Origenis will also help Alcon add more early-stage compounds to our exploratory efforts."
- see Alcon's release for more