In December 2003, eight-year old biotech KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd. struck its first licensing deal, granting North American (US, Canadian and Mexican) commercialization and development rights over its promising Phase I anti-cancer compound AQ4N to US biotech Novacea Inc.[See Deal]. In return, KuDOS gets an apparently small payment to contribute to Phase I and IND filing-related costs, and undisclosed milestone and royalty payments on eventual sales. Both companies will also share manufacturing costs.
The deal seemed disappointing at first: too early stage to generate much value for the company and without significant upfront...