Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) today announced a global collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) to develop and commercialize products combining proprietary Lilly compounds with Halozyme's ENHANZE™ platform.
Under the terms of the agreement, Halozyme will receive an initial $25 million payment, followed by milestone payments of up to $160 million for each of up to five collaboration targets valued at up to $800 million. These payments are subject to Lilly's achievement of specified development, regulatory and sales-based milestones. In addition, Lilly will pay Halozyme mid-single digit royalties if products under the collaboration are commercialized.
The Halozyme ENHANZE platform is based on a proprietary recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20) that temporarily degrades hyaluronan -- a chain of natural sugars in the body -- to aid in the dispersion and absorption of other injected therapeutic drugs. For Lilly, this technology may allow for more rapid delivery of injectable medications through subcutaneous delivery.
"We are pleased to collaborate with innovators like Halozyme as we develop our pipeline assets and optimize them for the clinic," said Divakar Ramakrishnan, Ph.D., vice president of delivery and device research and development at Lilly. "Halozyme's ENHANZE technology will provide a platform for our scientists to optimize delivery of Lilly medicines through subcutaneous injection."
"Lilly is one of the most respected brands and innovators in pharmaceutical development and we are pleased to support their pipeline with our ENHANZE technology platform," said Dr. Helen Torley, president and chief executive officer. "Through collaborators like Lilly, we see a growing opportunity to work both at an earlier stage of drug development as well as with products that are entering the clinic on formulations that have the potential to benefit patients worldwide."
Other top pharmaceutical and biotech companies collaborating with Halozyme include Roche, Baxalta, Pfizer, Janssen and AbbVie.
Scientists discover key protein that helps cancer cells evade CAR T cell therapy