Epizyme shares soar as Celgene deal triggers $25 million milestone payment

8 January 2014

US biotech company Epizyme (Nasdaq: EPZM) has announced the achievement of the proof of concept (POC) milestone in the EPZ-5676 DOT1L inhibitor clinical program, earning a $25 million payment under the company’s collaboration with US biotech company Celgene’s (Nasdaq: CELG). Shares of Epizyme were up 75% to $35.99 yesterday on the news.

The milestone was triggered by objective responses in patients with translocations of the MLL gene (MLL-r) as part of their 2012 agreement. These patients are currently enrolled in the fourth dose cohort in the dose escalation stage of the ongoing Phase I clinical study and are receiving uninterrupted treatment with EPZ-5676.

Epizyme also announced that a development candidate milestone has been achieved for one of the three histone methyltransferase (HMT) targets included in the company’s collaboration with UK pharma major GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK), earning a $4 million payment, after the deal in 2011.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK