US-based molecular drug developer Intellikine earned $4m in milestone payments from Infinity Pharmaceuticals on Monday. The payments were made after Intellikine’s IPI-145 inhibitor entered into Phase 1 clinical trials.
Intellikine signed a global licensing deal with Infinity for IPI-415, as well as other related intellectual property, in July last year. The deal included a $13.5m upfront payment, while milestone payments could potentially reach $471m in addition to royalties.
Intellikine had previously raised $28.5m in a July 2009 series B round led by corporate venturing unit Novartis Bioventures with participation from pharmaceutical company Biogen Idec, venture capital firms US Venture Partners, CMEA Capital and Sofinnova Ventures, investment bank FinTech Global and investment group Abingworth.
Sofinnova, CMEA and Abingworth each contributed to Intellikine’s $12.5m series A round less than two years before.
Troy Wilson, chief executive officer of Intellikine, said: "We believe that IPI-145 holds great promise for patients with inflammatory disease and hematologic cancers, and we are very excited to work with our partners at Infinity to advance the drug candidate into clinical study."