Astex Therapeutics receives milestone payments in GlaxoSmithKline alliance

Astex Therapeutics has been paid milestone fees by partner GlaxoSmithKline after the achievement of several targets in their ongoing drug development partnership.

The fragment-based drug discovery alliance sees the pharmaceutical company using Astex's Pyramid screening platform to help identify potential clinical development candidates of interest to GlaxoSmithKline.

Having achieved multiple early milestones in this partnership, Astex has now received a total of 5.9 million pounds from the drug manufacturer.

Dr Harren Jhoti, Astex's chief executive officer, said the firm is "delighted" to have met these objectives within 18 months of the start of the collaboration.

"This achievement is … a reflection of how well the Astex-GlaxoSmithKline joint project teams are working together in the collaboration," he said.

It comes after the company began an early stage clinical trial of a promising new cancer drug in partnership with AstraZeneca last month.