Bristol-Myers Squibb has acquired privately held Amira Pharmaceuticals, for $325 million upfront, with potential additional milestone payments totaling $150 million. Amira is a small-molecule pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of treatments for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases.

BMS will gain Amira’s fibrosis program, including the lead asset AM152, an orally available lysophosphatidic acid 1 (LPA1) receptor antagonist entering Phase IIa proof-of-confidence studies for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and scleroderma. BMS also gains Amira’s preclinical autotaxin program consisting of potential treatments for neuropathic pain and cancer metastases. BMS plans to retain Amira’s scientists working on both of these programs.

“As part of the continued execution of our focused biopharma strategy, BMS has identified fibrotic diseases as an area of high unmet medical need that complements our research efforts in several of our therapeutic areas,” said Elliott Sigal, executive vice president, chief scientific officer and president, R&D, BMS. “The acquisition of Amira represents the latest example of our String of Pearls strategy, a highly targeted set of transactions designed to enrich our innovative pipeline with potential medicines to help patients in need.”