Date: Jan 21, 2014 Author: Don Seiffert Source: bizjournals (
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Repligen Corp. has licensed another of its internally-developed experimental drugs, today announcing that BioMarin Pharmaceuticals will take over development of its portfolio of drugs aimed at psychiatric and neurologic disorders.
The Waltham company will receive $2 million up front from the Novato, Calif. drug company, and could get as much as $160 million more in milestone payments, plus royalties on sales of any drugs. The drugs in the portfolio are all of a type known as histone deacetylase inhibitors, which have long been used as as mood stabilizers and anti-epileptic drugs but which have recently been investigated for their effects against cancers as well as parasitic and inflammatory diseases.
Repligen (Nasdaq: RGEN) has been selling off development rights for its internally-developed drug candidates since August 2012 in order to focus on its more profitable sales of products used to make monoclonal antibodies, a type of biologic drug. Repligen's main product is called Protein A, which is used in the purification of monoclonal antibodies, but it has acquired several other products used in bioprocessing which it sells to clients including GE Healthcare and Millipore.
For the third quarter of 2013, the company reported revenues of $18.8 million, most of which came from bioprocessing product sales, and the rest from royalties. Net income during the quarter was $5.9 million.
In November, the company appointed John G. Cox, executive vice president of pharmaceutical operations and technology for Biogen Idec, to its seven-member board of directors. Repligen CEO Walter Herlihy said his company will benefit from Cox's extensive experience overseeing both large- and small-molecule drug development.
