Isis Pharmaceuticals will receive up to $14 million from Pfizer for its equity ownership of Excaliard Pharmaceuticals from Pfizer's acquisition of Excaliard. Upon closing of the acquisition, Isis will receive an initial $4.4 million. Contingent payments of up to an additional $9.6 million could be paid to Isis upon achievement of various milestones associated with the clinical and commercial progress of EXC 001. Isis will continue to be eligible for milestone and royalty payments under its licensing agreement with Excaliard for EXC 001.

 

Isis and Excaliard entered into a collaboration in 2007 to discover and develop antisense drugs for the local treatment of fibrotic diseases, including scarring. EXC 001 was co-discovered by Isis and Excaliard and developed by Excaliard for the treatment of skin scarring.  Upon completion of the acquisition, Pfizer plans to continue development of EXC 001 to address unmet medical needs in patient groups who suffer from excessive skin scarring. Currently, there are no FDA-approved products to reduce scar severity.

 

"The acquisition of Excaliard is part of our corporate research and development strategy to actively complement our robust internal project pipeline with innovative and differentiated drugs from biotech partners," said Mikael Dolsten, president, worldwide research and development, Pfizer.