Anacor Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline have announced an agreement relative to discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics for viral and bacterial diseases. Anacor develops small molecule therapeutics based on a boron chemistry platform. The agreement provides GlaxoSmithKline the option to select up to four targets for drug candidate development, with further options to select up to eight targets. Under the terms of the agreement, Anacor will develop certain boron-based drug candidates, and GlaxoSmithKline will have the option to license the candidates for further development. GlaxoSmithKline will also receive exclusive, worldwide rights for commercialization of the selected candidates. Anacor has the option to develop any of the candidates not selected by GlaxoSmithKline. The 
agreement also provides that Anacor will receive $12 million upfront and a commitment of $10 million equity financing from GlaxoSmithKline. Each licensed candidate could be worth up to $331 million for Anacor if certain milestones are reached.
Jason Derry, Ph.D., who graduated with honors from DePaul University College of Law, is a molecular biologist and founding author of Patent Docs.
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