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Print Edition StoriesMonday, October 19, 2009
Cubist pumps $15M into Hydra for pain drug development
By Mass High Tech Staff
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Hydra Biosciences Inc. of Cambridge and Lexington-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. report the two companies have entered into a collaboration deal to develop novel ion channel drugs, focusing on Hydra’s research and development program for ion channel compounds that target the TRPA1 receptor for pain management.
Cubist will give Hydra an upfront payment of $5 million, and could provide $5 million per year over two years to support Hydra’s internal development on the TRPA1 program, with an option to renew, according to Hydra officials. Hydra could also receive potential development milestones and royalties on products produced from the joint program.
Ultimately, the two companies hope to identify TRPA1 drug candidates for use as acute care therapeutics for pain management.
In January, Hydra brought in $22.2 million in a fourth venture funding round led by MedImmune Ventures, the venture capital fund of MedImmune, the biologics business of the AstraZeneca Group, along with previous investors Advanced Technology Ventures, Abingworth, Polaris, BioVenture Investors, Biogen-Idec Ventures, and Lilly Ventures. That funding brought Hydra’s total venture funding raised to $69 million.
Publicly traded Cubist (Nasdaq: CBST) in August presented a plan to the town of Lexington that would increase the drug maker’s existing footprint there by 110,000 square feet. The addition would more than double the company’s laboratory space in Lexington, where Cubist now manages 88,000 square feet of commercial and laboratory space at its headquarters at 65 Hayden Ave., according to a regulatory filing.
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