Vernalis said that the $3m milestone is triggered by the first dosing in a Phase II clinical trial of an Hsp90 inhibitor AUY-922, in a range of solid tumours.
Ian Garland, CEO of Vernalis, said: “We are delighted that our programme with Novartis has progressed into Phase II and we look forward to the results of the current Phase II proof of concept study which Novartis has indicated are targeted for 2010.”
Vernalis has one marketed product frovatriptan for the acute treatment of migraine, and five priority product candidates in clinical development (three of which are partnered), two further priority programmes in pre-clinical development (neither of which is partnered) and other collaborative drug discovery programmes.
Vernalis has a further two partnered programmes that are in clinical development in which it retains an economic interest. Its technologies, capabilities and products are endorsed by collaborations with global pharma companies including GSK, Biogen Idec, Novartis, Servier, Chiesi, Menarini and Endo.