Exelixis, Sankyo sign $20 million deal to develop therapies for cardiovascular disease

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, March 20 - Exelixis, Inc. and Sankyo Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., announced Monday a collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize novel therapies targeted against the mineralocorticoid receptor, a nuclear hormone receptor implicated in a variety of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Two mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists have already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure, according to a company news release.

Under terms of the agreement, Exelixis will receive a $20 million upfront payment upon signing of the agreement.

Exelixis also said it is entitled to receive research funding, substantial development, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments as well as double-digit royalties on the sale of any products commercialized under the collaboration.

After the joint research term, Sankyo said it will be responsible for all further preclinical and clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing and commercialization activities for the compounds.

"Sankyo brings important expertise in cardiovascular disease to our mineralocorticoid receptor program and we look forward to working together to develop new treatments in this area. This transaction with Sankyo is the third that we have executed around our portfolio of metabolic disease programs," George A. Scangos, president and chief executive officer of Exelixis, said in the release.

Scangos said the transactions provide the company with more than $70 million in guaranteed near-term payments, more than $1 billion in potential development and commercialization milestones and substantial royalties on these three classes of compounds.

Mineralocorticoid receptor is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily and is expressed in a variety of tissues including kidney, heart, brain and smooth muscle. Compounds that inhibit activation of mineralocorticoid receptor (antagonists) are used to treat hypertension and congestive heart failure due to their vascular protective effects.

Recent studies have also shown the beneficial effects of adding mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists to the treatment regimen in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy.

Exelixis said it has developed a series of non-steroidal, small molecule, receptor specific, potent mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists with good bioavailability and an excellent pharmacokinetic profile in preclinical models that have the potential to offer therapeutic advantages over existing therapies for the treatment of hypertension, congestive heart failure and end organ protection due to vascular damage.

Exelixis is a South San Francisco biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics that will potentially enhance the care and lives of patients with cancer and other serious diseases.

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