Xconomy: Emerald Biostructures Gets 3-Year Extension of UCB Drug Partnership
Summary
Bainbridge Island, WA-based Emerald is announcing today that it has gotten a 3-year extension of its collaboration with UCB, a 3.2-billion-euro company in Belgium that makes drugs for neurological and immunological disorders.Financial terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed, but Emerald will get research fees, plus milestone payments and royalties if anything from the collaboration turns into a marketed product.“It’s very exciting we have such a long-term commitment to collaborate with UCB and on multiple targets.” Emerald has been a comeback story the past couple years after its harrowing escape from the bankruptcy proceedings of its former parent, Iceland-based deCODE Genetics.As an independent company last year, Emerald saw its revenue grow 40 percent, and it hired another 20 people to build a staff of about 60, Wetmore says.Emerald can’t say much about the program that it just performed for UCB, but it has already earned a couple of the milestone payments that were outlined in its 2009 collaboration, in addition to research fees, Wetmore says.