Tranzyme in drug discovery deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb that could earn it an initial $16 million

North Carolina-based Tranzyme Pharma has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb to discover, develop and commercialize novel macrocyclic compounds directed against targets of interest to the latter.

B-MS will provide an upfront payment of $10 million and an additional $3 million to $6 million in research funding to Tranzyme for an initial two-year term. Capital venture backed drug developer Tranzyme will also receive further funding if the agreement is extended beyond the initial term. In addition, the firm is eligible to receive development and regulatory milestones and tiered royalties for each product resulting from the collaboration. Total milestone payments under the agreement, excluding royalties, could reach up to around $80 million for each target program.

The collaboration will deploy Tranzyme's proprietary drug discovery technology, Macrocyclic Template Chemistry (MATCH), to identify and develop new drug candidates for multiple targets in diverse therapeutic areas.

Under the terms of the deal, Tranzyme will be primarily responsible for early lead discovery, and B-MS will take primary responsibility for optimizing the identified lead compounds. The drug major will be solely responsible for completing preclinical and clinical development of all products arising from the collaboration, and for their commercialization globally.

The goal of the collaboration is to explore the molecular chemistry space accessed by MATCH to discover novel bioactive macrocycles. These macrocycles represent a distinct and underexplored compound class that displays favorable characteristics exhibited by large biomolecules, such as high potency and selectivity, while maintaining the benefits typically associated with small molecule drugs, such as high oral availability and low cost of goods.