Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will share responsibility for development and commercialization of the oxidative stress inducer, STA-4783, in the US. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will have responsibility for development and commercialization of STA-4783 outside the US, while Synta will receive an upfront cash payment of $80 million.
Synta and GSK will jointly commercialize STA-4783 in the US with Synta receiving a tiered profit share based on levels of annual net sales. The parties will share development costs outside of the US and Synta will receive double-digit tiered royalties on net sales.
Safi Bahcall, president and CEO, Synta, said: “GSK and Synta have a shared vision for the development and commercialization of STA-4783 in a range of potential indications, beginning with metastatic melanoma where a Phase IIb study with STA-4783 in combination with Paclitaxel has shown doubling of progression free survival compared to Paclitaxel alone.”
Moncef Slaoui, chairman of R&D, GSK, said: “This agreement further strengthens our late-stage oncology pipeline, which currently includes ten Phase III programs, and also demonstrates our commitment to identifying compounds that have the potential to deliver real benefit to patients.”