We were given the option to convert them a little while back. A...

We were given the option to convert them a little while back. A deal like this would be nice to help those who held onto the options. ChemoCentryx is working with the inflamation chemokines, a bit like one of the uses of Coramsine.
There is cash for these current trials and a lot will depend on results. Repeat of what they have already achieved in the phase 1 and the outlook will be great IMHO.

Small biotech firm lands huge deal
$1.5 BILLION PACT AIDS DEVELOPMENT OF TREATMENTS
By Steve Johnson
Mercury News

In a deal hailed as the second biggest of its kind nationally and the largest in California, an obscure Mountain View biotechnology company could earn $1.5 billion from drug giant GlaxoSmithKline to develop treatments for bowel and other inflammatory disorders.

Under the agreement announced Thursday, London-based GlaxoSmithKline initially will give ChemoCentryx $63.5 million. The rest of the $1.5 billion will be paid if ChemoCentryx meets certain milestones in getting the treatments onto the market.

It's the second biggest drug-development pact ever between a pharmaceutical firm and biotech company, said Mark Edwards, of Recombinant Capital in Walnut Creek, who tracks such agreements. He said the largest was the $1.7 billion that New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to pay New York-based ImClone Systems in 2001 for an interest in ImClone's cancer drug Erbitux.

Drug firms have been investing heavily in biotech companies in recent years, paying increasingly higher prices. But others agreed that the GlaxoSmithKline and ChemoCentryx compact appeared to be unprecedented in California.

``I don't know of a bigger deal, off hand,'' said Gary Shaffer, a partner with Morgenthaler Ventures in Menlo Park.

``The $1.5 billion is a huge number,'' added Matthew Gardner, president of BayBio, which represents Bay Area biotech firms. ``This is a great vote of confidence in some of the emerging companies and the science coming out of Northern California.''

One drug ChemoCentryx is developing that interests GlaxoSmithKline is for inflammatory bowel disorders such as Crohn's disease. The companies didn't disclose what other products GlaxoSmithKline is seeking. But ChemoCentryx also is working on treatments for such ailments as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, acute macular degeneration and asthma.

In addition to the $1.5 billion, GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to pay ChemoCentryx royalties for any commercial products that result from the deal.

ChemoCentryx Chief Executive Officer Thomas Schall, who founded the privately held company in 1997, said he was elated.

``It's a great day in my life,'' Schall said. ``It's the culmination of many years of work and dreams to be able to partner with a company like this.''

Some other large drug companies that he declined to name also offered investment deals to ChemoCentryx, Schall said, but GlaxoSmithKline's offer was the most attractive.

GlaxoSmithKline officials said they may invest in ChemoCentryx stock if the Mountain View firm goes public. But the London firm seems disinclined to acquire a majority interest in ChemoCentryx, said Samuel Wertheimer, a ChemoCentryx board member and a principal with New York-based OrbiMed Advisors, one of ChemoCentryx's early investors.

But that allows ChemoCentryx to maintain control of its drug development at least until its products are ready for late-stage human studies, where the high cost of such studies often makes it desirable to have them run by larger firms, Wertheimer said.

ChemoCentryx has about 65 employees and prior to the GlaxoSmithKline deal had raised $66.5 million in venture capital. It also had obtained an additional $23 million in grants from the federal government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Institutes of Health.

The company focuses on developing drugs that target the body's chemokine network, which governs the immune system's inflammatory response to injury or irritation. Because the network can cause ailments when it reacts inappropriately, ChemoCentryx is developing drugs to correct such problems by blocking portions of the network.

Mark Strobeck, a Glaxo-SmithKline executive involved in the transaction, said finding treatments to counteract chemokine-related illnesses has proven tough for other companies. But he said ChemoCentryx seems to be making progress, which could prove a big benefit for those suffering from such disorders.

``This is still a very highly unmet need among patients,'' he said.
Also see http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/08/24/afx2970800.html