THE WOODLANDS, Texas,
Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: LXRX), a biopharmaceutical
company focused on discovering and developing breakthrough
treatments for human disease, today announced that it has exercised
a restructured purchase option under its drug development financing
collaboration with Symphony Icon Holdings LLC and acquired all the
equity of Symphony Icon, Inc., thereby reacquiring all rights to
LX1031, LX1032, LX1033 and the other drug programs subject to the
collaboration.
"The encouraging results we have obtained with our portfolio of
serotonin synthesis inhibitors, LX1031 for irritable bowel
syndrome, LX1032 for carcinoid syndrome, and LX1033 for other
gastrointestinal disorders, informed our decision to reacquire all
development and commercialization rights to these promising drug
candidates," said Arthur T. Sands,
M.D., Ph.D., Lexicon's president and chief executive officer. "We
have restructured our agreement with Symphony in a manner that
enables us to both defer a sizable portion of the purchase option
exercise price as well as make a significant portion contingent on
the success of the drug candidates, allowing us to make payments as
we receive licensing proceeds to fund them."
Lexicon and Symphony Icon Holdings agreed to revised terms under
which Lexicon paid Symphony Icon Holdings $10 million upon closing and agreed to make
certain additional deferred and contingent payments, payable at
Lexicon's option in cash, common stock or a combination of cash and
common stock, subject to certain conditions. The additional
deferred payments, which will be due on or before July 30, 2013, will be in an amount equal to
$50 million less a 50% share of the
expenses Lexicon incurs for the future development of LX1031,
LX1032, LX1033 and related drug candidates, subject to certain
exceptions and up to an aggregate reduction of $15 million. Lexicon may make the deferred
payments in whole or in part at any time that it chooses within the
payment period. The contingent payments will consist of a 50%
share of any consideration Lexicon receives from licensing LX1031,
LX1032, LX1033 and related drug candidates up to a maximum of
$30 million plus the amount of any
reduction in the deferred payment amount. The contingent
payments will be due if and when Lexicon receives such licensing
consideration. Lexicon will make an alternative contingent
payment in lieu of a share of licensing consideration in the event
that Lexicon receives regulatory approval in the United States for the marketing and sale
of a product resulting from such programs prior to entering into a
licensing transaction for the commercialization of such product in
the United States. The total
of the up-front payment and all deferred and contingent payments by
Lexicon will not exceed the $90
million exercise price applicable under the terms of the
purchase option that were in effect before the restructured
agreement was signed.
The deferred payments and the contingent payments may be paid in
cash, common stock, or a combination of cash and common stock, at
Lexicon's discretion, provided that at least 50% of any payment
made on or prior to July 30, 2012
will be paid in common stock and no more than 50% of any payment
made after such date will be paid in common stock.
LX1031 is an orally-delivered serotonin synthesis inhibitor that
acts locally in the gastrointestinal tract targeting tryptophan
hydroxylase (TPH), an enzyme necessary for the production of
serotonin. LX1031 recently demonstrated positive results in a
Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with diarrhea-predominant and
mixed forms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D and IBS-M).
LX1032 is an orally-delivered serotonin synthesis inhibitor
that acts peripherally to inhibit tryptophan hydroxylase without
affecting brain serotonin levels. LX1032 is currently in a
Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with carcinoid syndrome.
LX1033 is a locally acting serotonin synthesis inhibitor with
enhanced potency in IND-enabling studies.
Lexicon Conference Call:
Lexicon management will hold a conference call to discuss its
reacquisition of the Symphony Icon programs at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 2, 2010. The dial-in number for the
conference call is 888-220-1244 (within the US/Canada) or 706-679-5615 (international).
The conference ID for all callers is 91995968. An
archived version of the conference call will be available on the
Lexicon website through August 9,
2010.
About Lexicon
Lexicon is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering
and developing breakthrough treatments for human disease.
Lexicon currently has four drug candidates in mid-stage
development for diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, carcinoid
syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis, all of which were discovered by
Lexicon's research team. Lexicon has used its proprietary
gene knockout technology to identify more than 100 promising drug
targets. Lexicon has focused drug discovery efforts on these
biologically-validated targets to create its extensive pipeline of
clinical and preclinical programs. For additional information
about Lexicon and its programs, please visit www.lexpharma.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements,"
including statements relating to Lexicon's clinical development
of LX1031, LX1032 and LX1033 and the potential therapeutic and
commercial potential of LX1031, LX1032 and LX1033. This
press release also contains forward-looking statements relating to
Lexicon's growth and future operating results, discovery and
development of products, strategic alliances and intellectual
property, as well as other matters that are not historical facts or
information. All forward-looking statements are based on
management's current assumptions and expectations and involve
risks, uncertainties and other important factors,
specifically including those relating to Lexicon's ability to
successfully conduct clinical development of LX1031, LX1032 and
LX1033 and preclinical and clinical development of its other
potential drug candidates, advance additional candidates into
preclinical and clinical development, obtain necessary regulatory
approvals, achieve its operational objectives, obtain patent
protection for its discoveries and establish strategic alliances,
as well as additional factors relating to manufacturing,
intellectual property rights, and the therapeutic or commercial
value of its drug candidates, that may cause Lexicon's
actual results to be materially different from any future results
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Information identifying such important factors is contained
under "Factors Affecting Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk
Factors" in Lexicon's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2009, as filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Lexicon undertakes no
obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
SOURCE Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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