Bristol-Myers Squibb and Adnexus Therapeutics have entered a worldwide strategic alliance to discover, develop and commercialize Adnectin-based therapeutics for oncology targets.

Adnexus will use its PROfusion technology on as many as six research programs to identify and deliver preclinical Adnectin candidates to BMS. BMS will be responsible for global development and commercialization activities. Adnexus retains a limited co-promotion right to the first product to receive regulatory approval in the U.S.

Under the terms of the agreement, BMS will commit approximately $30 million during the next three years to Adnexus, consisting of upfront and research payments. Adnexus is also eligible to receive regulatory milestone payments of as much as $210 million per product, as well as royalties on product sales and sales-based milestone payments.

"BMS is focused on discovering and commercializing medicines to treat serious diseases with unmet medical need, including cancer, and we are committed to expanding our biologics portfolio because we believe these medicines have the potential to improve patient treatment options," said Francis Cuss, M.D., senior vice president of discovery and exploratory clinical research for BMS. "The company continues to invest in new approaches to drug discovery, and this collaboration allows us to obtain key product rights to multi-functional Adnectins. We are excited about combining BMS's broad experience in oncology research with Adnexus' new platform to explore novel biologic oncology treatments."

"BMS has world-class expertise in oncology, and we look forward to working together using our PROfusion and Adnectin combination to discover potential therapies for people with cancer," said John Mendlein, Ph.D., J.D., chief executive officer of Adnexus. "Our recently published clinical data on Adnexus' selective VEGFR-2 blocker, Angiocept, validates the broad utility of our proprietary Adnectin class, especially in cancer."

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