SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and NEW YORK, Dec. 18
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Exelixis, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXEL) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
(NYSE: BMY) today announced a worldwide collaboration to discover, develop
and commercialize novel targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer.
Under the collaboration, which will become effective upon antitrust
clearance, Exelixis will deploy its drug discovery platform and be fully
responsible for the identification and pre-clinical development of small
molecule drug candidates directed against mutually selected targets.
Bristol- Myers Squibb will have the right to select up to three
Investigational New Drug (INDs) candidates against three different targets.
Following selection by Bristol-Myers Squibb, the company will lead all
global activities, although the parties will co-develop and
co-commercialize the programs in the United States.
Under the terms of the agreement, Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay to
Exelixis an upfront payment of $60 million in cash. Exelixis will also
receive $20 million for each of up to three different drug candidates
selected by Bristol-Myers Squibb at IND. The parties plan to equally share
development costs, commercial profits and co-promotion responsibilities in
the United States. Exelixis will also receive royalties on product sales
outside of the United States. For each program selected by Bristol-Myers
Squibb, Exelixis may opt out of the co-development or co-promotion in the
United States, in which case Exelixis would receive milestones and
royalties in lieu of a U.S. profit share.
"We are very pleased to collaborate with BMS on the discovery and
development of novel treatments for cancer," said George A. Scangos, Ph.D.,
president and chief executive officer of Exelixis. "This collaboration will
capitalize on the power of Exelixis' drug discovery engine and on the
breadth and depth of BMS' expertise in oncology. We have had excellent,
productive collaborations with BMS in oncology since 2000, and I am
confident that this new collaboration will build on the excellent
relationship between the companies and on the knowledge that we have
generated during those years."
"Bristol-Myers Squibb is dedicated to addressing areas of serious
medical need, and oncology remains one of the cornerstones of our research
and development efforts," said Francis Cuss, M.D., senior vice president of
Drug Discovery for Bristol-Myers Squibb. "We have a long-standing and
productive history of collaboration with Exelixis and are pleased to expand
our partnership to include the discovery and development of novel, targeted
oncology therapies."
Exelixis Conference Call and Webcast
Exelixis' management will discuss this collaboration during a
conference call beginning at 5:00 a.m. PT / 8:00 a.m. ET today, Monday,
December 18, 2006. To listen to the discussion, the webcast may be accessed
in the Event Calendar page under Investors at http://www.exelixis.com .
About Exelixis
Exelixis, Inc. is a development-stage biotechnology company dedicated
to the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics for
the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. The company is
leveraging its fully integrated drug discovery platform to fuel the growth
of its development pipeline, which is primarily focused on cancer. For more
information, please visit the company's web site at http://www.exelixis.com .
About Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global pharmaceutical and related health care
products company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life. Visit
Bristol-Myers Squibb on the World Wide Web at http://www.bms.com .
Exelixis Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including,
without limitation, all statements related to the discovery, development
and commercialization of therapies targeting the treatment of cancer under
the collaboration as well as related costs and payments, including
milestones, profits and royalties. Words such as "believes," "anticipates,"
"plans," "expects," "intends," "will," and similar expressions are intended
to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements
are based upon Exelixis' current expectations. Forward-looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties and past performance is not indicative of
future results. Exelixis' actual results and the timing of events could
differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements
as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without
limitation, the risk that products candidates that appeared promising in
early research do not demonstrate safety or efficacy in clinical trials;
the ability of the company to advance preclinical compounds into clinical
development; the uncertainty of the FDA approval process; and the
therapeutic and commercial value of the company's compounds. These and
other risk factors are discussed under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in
Exelixis' quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30,
2006 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Exelixis expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release
publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect any change in the company's expectations with
regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on
which any such statements are based.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term
is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
regarding the development and commercialization of products. Such
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve
inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay,
divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results
to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking
statement can be guaranteed. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee
that the research collaboration agreement described in this release will
result in the discovery, development and commercialization of products.
Forward-looking statements in the press release should be evaluated
together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's
business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors
discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2005, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and
Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation
to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of
new information, future events, or otherwise.
SOURCE Exelixis, Inc.
Related links:
http://www.bms.com/
http://www.exelixis.com/
Key(s): Exelixis
