C4X Discovery sky-rockets, as it out-licenses addiction program for $294 million

Indivior (LSE: INDV) has entered into a license agreement with fellow British company C4X Discovery Holdings (AIM: C4XD) to acquire exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize C4X's oral Orexin-1 receptor antagonist program for the treatment of addiction.

Under the terms of the agreement, C4XD will receive an upfront payment of $10 million and could receive up to $284 million of potential development, regulatory and commercialization milestones in addition to royalties. In turn, Indivior receives a global and exclusive licence to C4X3256 and all other compounds in the same patent family and is responsible for the cost and execution of all further development of C4X3256. The agreement covers the development of Orexin-1 antagonists for multiple indications.

The news, which is the first major partnership for the UK firm, had a staggering effect on C4D’s shares, which leapt as much as 136% to a high of 150 pence in early trading, and were still up 107% at 117 pence by mid-afternoon.