Under the terms of the agreement, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will assume all development responsibility and associated costs for IDX899, and Idenix will receive an upfront payment of $34 million and will be eligible to receive up to $416 million in development, regulatory and sales milestones. Furthermore, if IDX899 is successfully developed and commercialized, Idenix will receive double-digit, tiered worldwide royalties.
The $34 million upfront payment by GSK to Idenix was split evenly between cash and the purchase of Idenix common stock at $6.87 per share. The effectiveness of these transactions is subject to approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended and other customary closing conditions.
IDX899 is a novel non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor in Phase II clinical development being developed by Idenix for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Jean-Pierre Sommadossi, CEO of Idenix, said: GSK, with a well-established HIV franchise and substantial drug development experience, is the ideal collaborator to help maximize the potential of IDX899. For Idenix, the significant value created through the license of IDX899 enables us to focus all of our resources on advancing our core strategic hepatitis C virus (HCV) assets, which include drug candidates from the three major classes of direct-acting HCV antivirals.