Exelixis, Wyeth sign license agreement for metabolic disease compounds

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Dec. 22 - Exelixis Inc. said it has signed a license agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals for compounds targeting the farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a nuclear hormone receptor implicated in a variety of metabolic and liver disorders.

Exelixis will receive a $10 million upfront payment and may also receive up to $147.5 million in development and commercialization milestone payments as well as royalties on the sale of products commercialized under the collaboration.

Wyeth will be responsible for all further preclinical and clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing and commercialization activities for the compounds.

"This transaction ... provides Exelixis with $10 million in near-term capital to help support the ongoing development of our promising pipeline of cancer therapies and allows us to share in the future value of the FXR program through milestones and royalties," Exelixis president and chief executive officer George A. Scangos said in a company news release.

"This collaboration complements our growing pipeline and overall strategy of discovering and developing new treatments for patients with abnormal lipid metabolism that is associated with the development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases," said George P. Vlasuk, vice president of cardiovascular and metabolic disease research at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, in the release.

"The role of the FXR nuclear receptor in several key biochemical steps involved in maintaining the balance of various lipids through the regulation of bile acid synthesis makes it an attractive drug development target for several high-need clinical indications."

Exelixis said it has developed a series of selective, synthetic FXR ligands that lower triglycerides and improve the cholesterol profile in animal models of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis and blocks disease progression in animal models of liver disorders.

The license agreement with Wyeth covers several small molecule compounds that have been shown in preclinical studies to modulate the activity of FXR, the company said. Exelixis gained rights to FXR through the acquisition of X-Ceptor Therapeutics Inc. in October 2004.

Exelixis is a biotechnology company based in South San Francisco that develops therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, is based in Madison, N.J., and develops consumer and animal health care products.

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