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Print Edition StoriesWednesday, April 15, 2009
Ensemble teams with Bristol-Myers Squibb in drug discovery deal
By Mass High Tech staff
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Cambridge-based biotech Ensemble Discovery Corp. reports it has begun a strategic drug discovery alliance with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) that could bring up to $42 million to Ensemble.
Under the partnership, the companies will use Ensemble’s proprietary drug discovery platform and its collection of synthetic chemical rings known as macrocycles -- which it calls Ensemblins -- to find and develop novel drug candidates for “high-value pharmaceutical targets.”
Bristol-Myers Squibb will provide Ensemble an upfront payment of $5 million, and company officials say they expect to receive payments of $7.5 million to support the research program. In addition, Ensemble could receive milestones payments through the development cycle of up to $29.5 million per product, as well as royalties based on worldwide sales of the drugs.
Bristol-Myers Squibb holds the rights to develop and market the products coming out of the collaboration, according to Ensemble officials.
Ensemble licensed the synthetic macrocycle technology from Harvard University. The company is backed by investors that include ARCH Venture Partners of Chicago, Flagship Ventures of Cambridge, Oxford Bioscience Partners of Boston and CMEA Ventures of San Francisco.
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