Isis Pharmaceuticals’ share price surged by as much as 17% during trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange yesterday morning after the US firm revealed that it had signed a $1 million dollar licensing deal with drug giant, Pfizer, aimed at identifying drugs to treat eye diseases.
Under the terms of the multi-year collaboration, Isis will receive a technology access fee of $1 million, research funding, and milestone payments. Isis will also receive royalties on the sale of drugs resulting from the collaboration.
The two companies will use Isis’ second-generation antisense platform to identify antisense drugs against targets selected by Pfizer, with the latter firm responsible for clinical development and commercialisation of the antisense drugs. Pfizer may develop the antisense drugs identified in the collaboration for all human health indications.
