BM-S & Pharmacopeia In $40 Million Alliance

Bristol-Myers Squibb and drug discovery group Pharmacopeia haveannounced the formation of a three-year research collaboration involving two chemokine receptors related to inflammatory and immunological diseases such as atherosclerosis and asthma.

Under the terms of the agreement, B-MS will provide Pharmacopeia with an initial upfront payment, research funding and milestone payments. The total potential value of the research collaboration, excluding royalties, has been put at approximately $40 million. Pharmacopeia will provide B-MS with its combinatorial libraries of novel chemical structures for testing in the latter's internal research programs, for which additional milestone and royalty payments are possible.

- Meantime, B-MS has entered into an agreement with Arris Pharmaceutical Corp to develop protease inhibitors to prevent the growth and spread of hepatitis C virus infection, a leading cause of chronic liver disease. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.