Pfizer and Incyte announce strategic partnership

Pfizer and Incyte Corporation announced today that the two companies have entered into a global collaborative research and license agreement for the development, manufacture and marketing of novel oral CCR2 antagonists.

Incyte is a Delaware-based drug discovery and development company with a pipeline of oral compounds to treat HIV, inflammation, cancer and diabetes.

Under the agreement Pfizer will gain exclusive worldwide development and commercialisation rights to Incyte’s portfolio of CCR2 antagonist compounds, the most advanced of which is currently in Phase IIa studies in rheumatoid arthritis and insulin-resistant obese patients.

In return Incyte will receive an upfront payment of $40 million, royalties on worldwide sales, and will be eligible to receive additional milestone payments of up to $743 million for the successful development and commercialisation of CCR2 antagonists.

Pfizer also said it will provide research funding to Incyte to support the continued expansion of the CCR2 compound portfolio.

“This transaction is a further step in our strategy to augment Pfizer’s internal research and development efforts with high-potential, externally sourced product candidates and technologies,” said Martin Mackay, Pfizer senior vice president worldwide research and technology.

“We are excited about Incyte’s CCR2 antagonist program and its potential use in treating a range of chronic diseases with significant unmet medical need.”

Pfizer invested ?600 million on R&D in the UK and more than $7 billion globally during 2005. The company currently employs 6,000 people involved in R&D in the UK alone.

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