LEXINGTON, Mass.—Predix Pharmaceuticals announced the signing of an exclusive collaboration and licensing agreement with Amgen for the development of compounds to treat a variety of autoimmune diseases. In particular, the companies will work on existing Predix preclinical compounds and novel S1P1 modulators.

 

"This collaboration provides Predix with the option to transform into a fully integrated pharmaceutical company by exercising our co-promote option with Amgen," said Chen Schor, chief business officer of Predix. "This deal comes as we are in the process of finalizing our merger with EPIX [Pharmaceuticals] and will further enable the combined company to pursue this research program along with our other development programs."

 

Initially, Predix will receive an infusion of $20 million, but this could expand to more than $300 million if certain clinical, regulatory and sales milestones are met. The company may also receive double-digit royalties on future sales of resulting products, and will have the option to promote these products to specialty physicians in the United States.