Tuesday May 9, 5:59 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
Vertex and Novartis Establish Discovery Alliance
Targeting Protein Kinases -Agreement Pioneers New Model for Drug
Discovery and Early Development-
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and BASEL, Switzerland, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq:
VRTX - news) and Novartis Pharma AG today announced that they have formed an alliance to discover, develop, and
commercialize small molecule drugs directed at targets in the kinase protein family. Over the course of the collaboration,
Novartis could, subject to milestones and other conditions, make pre-commercial payments to Vertex of $800 million, based
on the successful discovery and full development of eight compounds.
( Photo: newscom.com
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The alliance creates a new operating model for pharmaceutical research and development, combining Vertex's integrated
parallel drug discovery approach in target families with the Novartis portfolio management system, with its emphasis on
optimizing the early development phase of new compounds and promotion of selected compounds to rapid clinical
development. This is the pharmaceutical industry's most significant alliance to date in the discovery of new drugs based on
targets uncovered by genomic and proteomic research.
More than 500 human kinases have been described in scientific literature, and specific kinases have been implicated in a wide
range of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory disease, and neurological disease. Vertex has
pioneered the field of chemogenomics, which unites medicinal chemistry and molecular biology, to increase the pace and
productivity of drug discovery directed at novel targets. Vertex's drug design approach uses the structural similarity of targets in
the same family, such as kinases, as a basis for parallel and simultaneous design of novel drugs, and this approach is a focus of
the collaboration announced today.
Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis will provide Vertex with a $15 million initial payment and further research funding
of $200 million over 6 years, and Vertex will have responsibility for drug discovery and clinical proof-of-concept testing of drug
candidates. Novartis will have exclusive worldwide development, manufacturing and marketing rights to 8 clinically and
commercially relevant drug candidates that it accepts for development from Vertex. Further license fees, milestone payments
and reimbursements of $600 million or more are possible for Vertex subject to outcomes according to predefined criteria.
Subject to certain conditions, Vertex will have co- promotion rights in the United States and Europe. The alliance between
Novartis and Vertex is subject to Hart Scott Rodino clearance.
``Vertex has a strong track record of designing drugs based on biologically complex targets, and is well-positioned to apply
genomic information to produce drug candidates for multiple important targets in the kinase protein family,'' said Daniel Vasella,
M.D., Chairman and CEO of Novartis AG. ``The collaboration is expected to increase the flow of new drug candidates into
development, adding to the innovative power of the Novartis pipeline in the years ahead.''
``We are excited that Novartis shares our vision of the tremendous commercial and medical potential of parallel drug discovery
targeting the kinase protein family,'' said Joshua Boger, Ph.D., Chairman, President and CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals. ``This
partnership joins the complementary strengths of Vertex's drug discovery platform with Novartis' world class development and
marketing capabilities. We believe that the collaboration will be well poised to take advantage of emerging genomic information
to set a new standard for drug discovery and help speed the introduction of a wave of breakthrough medicines.''
About Novartis
Novartis is a world leader in healthcare with core businesses in pharmaceuticals, consumer health, generics, eye-care, and
animal health. In 1999, the Group (including Agribusiness) achieved sales of $21.6 billion and invested more than $2.8 billion in
R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs about 82,000 people and operates in over 140 countries
around the world. The Group recently announced plans to spin off its Crop Protection and Seeds sectors and to merge them
with the agrochemicals business of AstraZeneca in the second half of 2000.
About Vertex
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated discovers, develops and markets small molecule drugs that address major unmet medical
needs. The Company has eight drug candidates in clinical development to treat viral diseases, inflammation, cancer, autoimmune
diseases and neurological disorders. Vertex has created its pipeline using a proprietary information-based approach to drug
design that integrates multiple technologies in biology, chemistry and biophysics aimed at increasing the speed and success rate
of drug discovery. Vertex's first approved product is Agenerase(TM) (amprenavir), an HIV protease inhibitor, which Vertex
co-promotes with Glaxo Wellcome.
There can be no assurance that any compounds will be discovered as part of this collaboration, that compounds will enter
clinical trials, that initial clinical trial results will be predictive of any future results, that any drug candidates will be the subject of
filings for regulatory approval, that any drug candidates will receive marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration or equivalent regulatory authorities, or that drugs that result from this collaboration will be marketed successfully.
There can be no assurance that Vertex will receive any additional revenue as part of this collaboration. Investors are also
directed to consider other risks and uncertainties discussed in Vertex documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Vertex's press releases are also available at www.vpharm.com, or by fax- on-demand at (800) 758-5804 - Code: 938395.
A Vertex conference call to discuss the alliance with Novartis will be broadcast live on the web at www.vpharm.com at 10:45
a.m. EDT.
SOURCE: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated |
