Icagen' s major collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has been extended for another year.
Under the terms of the extension, Pfizer will continue to pay all the costs of the two companies' work to discover and develop new painkillers. That will include about $5 million in funding for Icagen through Sept. 30, 2010.
Pfizer retains the exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize three drugs. As outlined in the original 2007 collaboration agreement, Icagen can receive up to $359 million in milestone payments for each drug, as well as royalties based on sales for any medicines that win regulatory approval.
"We feel quite good about the progress and the way the research is going," said Richard Katz, Icagen's chief financial officer.
Icagen, which also is working on experimental drugs to treat asthma and epilepsy, has no products on the market.
David Ranii has been a business reporter at The News & Observer since 1993. Over the years he has covered information technology, banking, insurance, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, media businesses and real estate. Contact him at 919-829-4877 or