Ligand, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover and develop medicines, announced a new collaboration and license agreement between its subsidiary, Icagen, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
This collaboration will utilize Icagen Technology Platform (which is focused primarily on ion channel and transporter novel drug discovery) to identify and develop inhibitors of a specific genetically-validated molecular target relevant to neurological diseases.
Ligand will be responsible for most preclinical activities up to lead optimization, whilst GSK will lead further development and commercialization of any drug candidates identified through the collaboration.
Under the terms of the collaboration and license agreement, Ligand will receive a $7 million upfront payment and will be eligible for up to $154.5 million in milestone payments.