OSI, AVEO Expand Drug Discovery, Translational Research Collaboration

OSI and AVEO have expanded the drug discovery and translational research collaboration announced in October 2007.

The alliance is anchored around developing molecular targeted therapies to target the underlying mechanisms of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer, and to develop proprietary datasets of associated patient selection biomarkers to support OSI’s targeted medicine pipeline.

Under the terms of the expanded discovery and research agreement, OSI will pay AVEO $20 million at closing, $5 million of which is an upfront cash payment and $15 million is the purchase of additional equity in AVEO. Repotedly, OSI will also provide AVEO research funding over the next two years to support the collaboration, and the potential to achieve additional royalties and milestones.

Moreover, immediately after the payment, OSI will receive rights beyond the original collaboration including rights to additional EMT targets (including up to 4 antibody targets) and increased access to AVEO technology (tumor models, archives and biomarkers).

Tuan Ha-Ngoc, president and CEO of AVEO, said: We are very pleased to expand our collaboration with OSI. This agreement demonstrates the unique insights and value AVEO’s novel cancer biology platform brings to cancer drug development. Furthermore, our partnerships, including this expanded alliance, have enabled AVEO to build a sustainable company and underscore our ability to raise funds without diluting the value of our later-stage assets.