Amgen in Major Licensing Deal for Drugs

In what analysts described as one of the largest biotechnology licensing deals in history, Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. said Thursday that it has acquired the rights to a group of promising compounds developed by Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. to treat neuro-degenerative diseases.

Amgen, one of the country’s top biotechnology companies, initially will pay Baltimore-based Guilford $35 million for the rights. But payments could grow substantially if any of the drugs are successfully developed.

Matthew Geller, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co., said the deal could be the “biggest biotech licensing deal in history.” The agreement aligns a small, promising biotechnology company with a well-heeled and well-known partner with experience in clinical trials and marketing.

If the two companies successfully develop drugs to treat all 10 medical targets called for under the agreement, Guilford could receive more than $390 million in additional payments, the company said. It would also receive royalties from the sales of drugs.

The medical targets range from traumatic brain and spinal injuries to multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

However, developing a new drug for even one disease faces major clinical and regulatory hurdles and could be many years off, experts cautioned.

Amgen also said it would pay for any human trials to test the drugs, a potentially costly expense.

News of the deal sent Guilford’s shares soaring. After hitting an all-time high of $32.75, they closed at $28.63, up $3.88 in Nasdaq trading.

Amgen shares rose 19 cents to close at $52.56, also on Nasdaq.

According to Guilford executives, most of the major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies courted Guilford for the rights to a group of chemical compounds that it has developed to treat nerve damage. Nick Langekic, Guilford’s vice president for business development, told analysts that nine companies submitted firm deals for the rights to its nerve growth compounds.

He said the company chose Amgen because of its “commitment to developing a new class of compounds” that could result in “a paradigm shift in the treatment of neuro-degenerative diseases.”

Current treatments for most neuro-degenerative diseases address symptoms rather than underlying causes of the disease.