NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly & Co will buy privately held Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc to bolster its diagnostics capabilities, the companies said on Monday.
Lilly will pay $300 million up front to acquire Avid, which develops molecular imaging compounds intended for the detection and monitoring of chronic human diseases.
Avid stockholders will also be eligible for up to $500 million in additional milestone payments, related to the company's lead research program.
That program, called florbetapir, is a molecular imaging agent designed to detect the presence of amyloid plaque in the brain. Such plaque has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. A marketing application for florbetapir has recently been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Lilly is eagerly seeking new products as it faces the impending patent expiration of its Zyprexa schizophrenia treatment and other drugs.
(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, editing by Gerald E. McCormick) Keywords: LILLY/AVID (lewis.krauskopf@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6082;Reuters Messaging:Lewis.Krauskopf.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Lilly will pay $300 million up front to acquire Avid, which develops molecular imaging compounds intended for the detection and monitoring of chronic human diseases.
Avid stockholders will also be eligible for up to $500 million in additional milestone payments, related to the company's lead research program.
That program, called florbetapir, is a molecular imaging agent designed to detect the presence of amyloid plaque in the brain. Such plaque has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. A marketing application for florbetapir has recently been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Lilly is eagerly seeking new products as it faces the impending patent expiration of its Zyprexa schizophrenia treatment and other drugs.
(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, editing by Gerald E. McCormick) Keywords: LILLY/AVID (lewis.krauskopf@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6082;Reuters Messaging:Lewis.Krauskopf.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.