ZGEN, Serono biologics R&D deal
Under a five-year deal, ZymoGenetics (ZGEN) granted Serono (SWX:SEO; SRA) access to a portfolio of genes and proteins for evaluation, screening and licensing for a total of $81.3 million in upfront payments and an equity investment. SEO also received rights to license up to 12 products from ZGEN's core internal research projects. ZGEN will have an option to co-develop and co-commercialize resulting products in the U.S. for an equal share in profits.
ZGEN also granted SEO exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize products based on fibroblast growth factor 18 (FGF-18) and interleukin-22 (IL-22) receptor for cartilage repair. The partners also will co-develop and co-commercialize interleukin-31 (IL-31) for inflammatory diseases. ...