Bristol-Myers Squibb and Exelixis sign oncology agreement

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Exelixis have announced the signing of a global partnership agreement for the discovery, development and commercialisation of new pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer.

According to the agreement, Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay Exelixis $60 million (30.66 million pounds) in cash, with a further $20 million each for three investigational new drug candidates.

Exelixis will aim to identify small molecule drug candidates against different targets and be responsible for their pre-clinical development. The company commented that the deal would combine its drug discovery capabilities with the oncology expertise of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Francis Cuss, senior vice president of drug discovery for Bristol-Myers Squibb, “We have a long-standing and productive history of collaboration with Exelixis and are pleased to expand our partnership to include the discovery and development of novel, targeted oncology therapies.”

He added that the company was committed to tackling areas currently unmet by existing pharmaceutical products, with oncology being a major focus of its research and development activities.

In November, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced the results of phase III clinical trials of Erbitux (cetuximab) in metastatic colorectal cancer patients. The trials showed that administration with the compound resulted in an improvement in overall survival, with the compound meeting its primary efficacy endpoint.