San Diego-based Ligand Pharmaceuticals will pocket a $5 million upfront fee and up to $158 million in development and commercial milestones under a new pact it signed with GlaxoSmithKline covering its experimental platelet-booster and other thrombopoietin-related molecules. LGD-4665 currently is in Phase II for treatment of thrombocytopenia, a condition of low-platelet levels linked to a range of clinical disorders. GlaxoSmithKline has the exclusive right to develop, manufacture and commercialize LGD-4665, as well as other TPO-related molecules discovered by Ligand.
Glaxo and Ligand have had a successful relationship so far. Glaxo won an approval for Promacta, another platelet booster discovered in collaboration with Ligand.
"We believe LGD-4665 will complement GSK's TPO receptor agonist program that has resulted in the development of Promacta/Revolade (eltrombopag), which was recently approved by the FDA," said Ad Rawcliffe, Glaxo's senior vice president, worldwide business development and R&D finance.
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