Samaritan gets $8.6M upfront from Pharmaplaz

Las Vegas, USA-based Samaritan Pharmaceuticals say that, under a March 9 agreement with Pharmaplaz, a private Irish health care company, where Samaritan receives $10.0 million non-refundable upfront money in two payments to develop and commercialize the HIV entry inhibitor drug SP-01A, it has received the second upfront payment of $8.6 million.

Samaritan received $1.4 million of the $10.0 million upfront payment upon the signing the deal. Pharmaplaz takes financial responsibility for the future development of SP-01A and on successful commercialization; the two companies will share equally in SP-01A's revenue royalty stream.

Janet Greeson, chief executive of Samaritan, stated: "this $8.6 million allows us to push three potential blockbuster drugs forward. We plan to push forward with our promising Phase I Alzheimer's drug, caprospinol, our oral hepatitis C drug SP-30 and our fast-acting plaque removing cholesterol drug, SP-1000.'"