Monday, June 20, 2011

Concert Pharmaceuticals lands $4M milestone pay

By Michelle Lang

Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc. will take in a $4 million payment from GlaxoSmithKline, following a milestone achievement the Lexington company hit for its HIV protease inhibitor (HIV-PI) development program. The milestone payment is part of a strategic alliance Concert formed with GSK in 2009.

As part of GSK’s HIV-PI program, Concert’s CTP-298 was selected as the lead compound to be developed further, with plans to begin clinical trials in 2012.

Concert develops CTP-298 as a deuterium modified-version of atazanavir, a treatment for HIV. The addition of deuterium is expected to improve the safety and tolerability of a drug, based on its ability to form a strong chemical bond to carbon, the company reported in a news release today. 

The deal with GSK could potentially bring $1 billion to Concert Pharmaceticals. The Lexington company has already received $35 million in upfront payments, with $16 million coming in the form of equity investment. As part of the alliance, Concert can get milestone payments and royalties from deuterium-containing products stemming from its pipeline, as well as milestones and royalties on the sales of deuterium-containing products that GSK might develop.

Since it was founded in 2006, Concert has raised more than $110 million from venture capitalists and institutional investors including Brookside Capital Partners Fund, TVM Capital, Three Arch Partners, Fidelity Investments, Skyline Ventures, Flagship Ventures, Adage Capital Management, Greylock Partners, New Leaf Venture Partners, QVT Fund, SR One Ltd. (GSK’s health care venture fund), Mediphase Venture Partners, Westfield Capital Management and Alexandria Equities LLC.

Concert Pharmaceuticals CEO Roger Tung was named a Mass High Tech All-Star in 2009.