B-MS & Karo Bio Sign Obesity Deal

US health and personal care group Bristol-Myers Squibb and Karo Bio, aprivate biopharmaceutical company based in Sweden, have entered into a three-year research collaboration to discover and develop novel treatments for metabolic disorders such as hypercholesterolemia. According to the companies, if two potential treatments from the collaboration were developed and approved for patients, the value of the agreement could be around the $40 million mark.

Under the terms of the deal, B-MS and Karo Bio will jointly manage the research and preclinical development in the area of thyroid hormone receptor beta agonists, and coordinate their chemistry programs and synthesize compounds targeting the receptors. B-MS will obtain the worldwide development and marketing rights to compounds discovered for the treatment of metabolic diseases, while Karo Bio will receive milestone payments and royalties on eventual product sales. Anders Lonar, president of the Swedish firm said: "the combination of Karo Bio's drug discovery capabilities and B-MS' expertise in clinical development and marketing is very strong."