Nicholas Piramal arm signs 2nd drug development deal with Eli Lilly

MUMBAI: Nicholas Piramal India Research & Development and Eli Lilly have signed a second new drug development agreement to develop and, in certain regions, commercialise a select group of Lilly���s pre-clinical drug candidates that span multiple therapeutic areas. Nicholas Piramal India Research & Development is an independent company recently demerged from Nicholas Piramal India.

The new alliance will follows the framework from an earlier agreement between Nicholas Piramal India and Lilly, signed on Jan 12, 2007, of seeking to increase productivity in drug development by synergizing the strengths of both companies. In this new agreement, both will independently carry out early clinical development of two different candidate compounds directed against the same target. NRDL's compensation, based on a pre-agreed formula, could total up to $110 million in call-back payments and milestones, plus royalties on sales. At 11;03 am, Nicholas Piramal shares were down 5.09 per cent at Rs 313 on BSE.