Novartis is penning a four-year pact with ProFound Therapeutics to create new therapeutics for heart disease, with $750 million in biobucks up for grabs per target.
The Swiss pharma is doling out $25 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments while tacking on the chance for ProFound to make up to $750 million in milestones per selected target, plus tiered royalties, according to a June 26 release.
Novartis will work with the Flagship Pioneering–founded biotech to develop first-in-class medicines across a range of cardiovascular diseases. The companies did not disclose how many possible targets are included in the deal terms.
The pair will use ProFound’s protein detection platform to identify and validate new proteins within the expanded human proteome for possible therapeutic development.
“We are excited to collaborate with ProFound and combine our respective expertise and capabilities to explore under-researched biology, uncover new mechanisms and translate pioneering science into life-changing treatments,” Fiona Marshall, Ph.D., president of biomedical research at Novartis, said in the release.
Novartis houses Entresto, a heart failure medication that is currently subject to a patent case in which Novartis is trying to block the launch of MSN Pharmaceuticals’ proposed generic. The pharma also touts Leqvio for lowering bad cholesterol plus three late-stage pipeline candidates in cardiovascular indications.
Meanwhile, ProFound also has a pact with Pfizer via Flagship’s and Pfizer’s billion-dollar, multiprogram collaboration. Last year, the partners picked ProFound from Flagship’s portfolio to work on developing new obesity drugs.