By Matthew Willett

Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp. formed a joint venture with Elan Pharmaceuticals plc to develop and commercialize Inex¿s lead anticancer product, Onco TCS.

The deal, valued at up to C$60 million (US$39 million), includes a C$7.5 million up-front purchase of Inex stock by Elan and a profit-sharing arrangement upon the product¿s commercialization.

Vancouver-based Inex officials said the deal is a perfect fit, thanks to Dublin-based Elan¿s acquisition of The Liposome Co., of Princeton, N.J., in March. (See BioWorld Today, March 7, 2000.)

¿The investment community looks at this from a dollar perspective, but we¿re flipping it around and saying, Why partner?¿¿ Inex CEO and President David Main said. ¿In the first place, Elan brings everything we¿re looking for in a partner. There¿s major funding going forward, and it¿s a good fit because Elan is committed to drug delivery and oncology, and of course, there¿s their acquisition last year of The Liposome Co.¿

Onco TCS is in a pivotal Phase II/III test for relapsed lymphoma, and the company expects to file for regulatory approval in the U.S. late this year or early next.

¿Our TCS is our proprietary formulation of a lipid-based delivery system,¿ Main told BioWorld Today. ¿It¿s what we call a second or third generation liposomal system that takes what we¿ve learned, some of the downfalls of using liposomes, in the past, and I think overcomes those with better composition.

¿The product it encapsulates, vincristine, is an ideal drug to put in this delivery system,¿ Main added. ¿It¿s effective at getting more to the cancer site and holding it there for more time.¿

He also lauded the ¿upside profit sharing arrangement. License fees and milestones sound great, but the long-term driver of share price is how much revenue it generates, and profit sharing is the best way to accommodate that.¿

Inex¿s stock (TSE:IEX) rose C$1 on the news to close at C$5.20. Elan¿s shares (NYSE:ELN) dropped 80 cents Monday to close at $50.15.