BiolineRX Ltd. (TASE:BLRX) today announced that it has been told by Royalty Pharma, the new parent company of Cypress Bioscience Inc., that it is committed to develop Cypress’ pipeline assets, which include BioLineRx’s BL-1020 (CYP-1020) compound, a novel therapeutic for schizophrenia.
In June 2010, BioLineRx and Cypress signed an exclusive licensing agreement for BL-1020 covering US, Canada and Mexico. Under the terms of the agreement, BiolineRX received a $30 million upfront payment and is entitled to receive considerable future milestone payments. The transaction closed in August 2010 following the approval of the Chief Scientist. On January 13, 2011, Cypress was acquired by Royalty Pharma.
BiolineRX CEO Dr. Kinneret Savitsky said, "We are extremely pleased with the development efforts made by Cypress to date, as well as the commitment to BL-1020 by Royalty Pharma. The Cypress team has significant experience in the CNS field and is now supported by Royalty Pharma, which has deep knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and substantial financial resources. We look forward to the initiation of the upcoming clarity study by this outstanding team."
Royalty Pharma CEO Pablo Legoretta said, "During the acquisition process, we performed substantial due diligence on the Cypress development assets, including the BL-1020 program. Our strategy is to invest in products with blockbuster potential, and BL-1020, with its potential cognitive enhancement capabilities for schizophrenic patients, has the potential to fit this profile. We were very impressed with the Cypress development team and intend to be supportive of them in order to carry out the development of BL-1020 and other current projects. We are looking forward to a fruitful collaboration with BiolineRX."
BiolineRX's share price rose 1.8% in afternoon trading on the TASE to NIS 3.11.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 23, 2011
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