Lilly has entered into an agreement with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited India, to acquire the rights to a portfolio of transient receptor potential vanilloid sub-family 1 (TRPV1) antagonist molecules, including a clinical compound, GRC 6211. GRC 6211 is currently in early clinical Phase II development as a potential next-generation treatment for various pain conditions, including osteoarthritic pain.

Glenmark will receive an upfront fee of $45 million and could receive as much as $215 million more in potential development and sales milestones for the initial indication, as well as royalties on sales if GRC 6211 is successfully commercialized. If other indications are successfully developed, Glenmark would be entitled to additional milestones of as much as $90 million. Lilly will have marketing rights for North America, Europe and Japan, while Glenmark will retain the marketing rights in all other countries. Glenmark will also have the right to co- promote GRC 6211 in the U.S. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"This agreement is further evidence of Lilly's commitment to seek out novel treatments for important medical conditions, such as osteoarthritic pain," commented William Chin, M.D., Lilly vice president, discovery research and clinical investigation. "We believe that TRPV1 represents a promising pathway for pain research. GRC 6211 has shown good potential in early-phase development and will be a strong addition to our own internal pipeline of potential pain molecules."

According to Glenn Saldanha, Managing Director and CEO of GPL, "This agreement further validates that Indian companies have the ability to do world class innovative R&D and Glenmark's leadership in the Indian drug discovery arena. We have made excellent progress in our TRPV1 program at Glenmark and are very excited to be partnering with Lilly, a world-class research-driven global pharmaceutical company."

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