Bristol-Myers Squibb Forges New Tech Deals

Bristol-Myers Squibb has negotiated two new research collaborations, worth up to $80 million, with two small US research-based firms; Sibia in the area of dementia and Somatix in gene therapy.

The larger agreement, with Sibia, relates to the discovery and development of compounds to treat Alzheimer's disease. Under the terms of this deal, Sibia is expected to receive up to $50 million in research funding and license fees. The program will focus on the discovery of drugs which can modulate the processing of amyloid precursor protein, the source molecule for both beta amyloid - one of the main constituents of senile plaques seen in the brain tissue of Alzheimer's patients - and soluble APP or s-alpha, which is thought to have neuroprotective properties in some experimental models.

The companies say that regulation of APP processing in the central nervous system could control the levels of these two factors and open up new treatment avenues for Alzheimer's disease, which afflicts 10 million patients across the globe. B-MS will provide Sibia with research funding and will pay royalties on sales, in return for exclusive rights to products emerging from the joint effort.