Ariad, HMR deal

Hoechst's Roussel Uclaf affiliate will collaborate with ARIA to develop drugs to treat osteoporosis and other hyperresorptive bone diseases. Using ARIA's combinatorial chemistry and structure-based drug design, the goal is to develop small molecule drugs that block the activity of Src, an intracellular signaling protein that is critical to the osteoporosis process.

Roussel Uclaf will invest $40 million to support ARIA's osteoporosis research, including a $10 million up front payment. Of $30 million in research payments, $10 million is milestone based. Hoechst will establish a dedicated research group to collaborate with the Cambridge, Mass., company and will fund all preclinical research. ...