Delaware-based Incyte, Massachusetts company announce R&D agreement

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Incyte and Syros Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced   the companies have entered into a discovery, research collaboration and option agreement.

Under the agreement, Syros will use its proprietary gene control platform to identify novel therapeutic targets with an emphasis on MPNs,   a collection of blood disorders. Incyte’s blockbuster drug is Jakafi, which is used to treat a type of blood cancer.

 Incyte will receive options to obtain exclusive worldwide rights to intellectual property resulting from the collaboration for up to seven validated targets. Incyte will have exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize any therapies under the collaboration.

“The discovery and development of novel therapeutic approaches to treat MPNs is an important area of focus at Incyte,” said Reid Huber, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Incyte. “Through this collaboration, we believe that Syros’ gene control platform will allow us to advance our understanding of the underlying biology of MPNs and potentially uncover new molecular targets for drug discovery.”

“Our gene control platform has broad applicability across diseases,” said Nancy Simonian, M.D., CEO of  Syros. “By working with Incyte, a leader in the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for MPNs, we aim to leverage the promise of our platform to benefit patients with diseases beyond our current areas of focus. Meanwhile, we can continue advancing our own pipeline to achieve our long-term goal of building a fully integrated company with therapies that make a profound difference for patients.”

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Under the terms of the agreement, Incyte will pay Syros $10 million upfront – including $2.5 million in cash and $7.5 million in prepaid research and development,  and purchase a total of $10 million in Syros common stock at $12.61 per share.

Should Incyte exercise all of its options under the agreement, Syros could receive up to $54 million from Incyte in target selection and option exercise fees.  For products resulting from the collaboration against each of the up to seven selected and validated targets, Syros could receive up to $50 million in development and regulatory milestones, as well as up to $65 million in commercial milestones.  Syros would also be eligible to receive low single-digit royalties on sales of products resulting from the collaboration.

Syros is based in Cambridge, MA, while Incyte has its headquarters just outside Wilmington.

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