BioChem Pharma Inc. announced Monday that it has enteredinto a collaborative research agreement with AB Astra ofSweden.

The $5 million agreement includes an up-front payment, andresearch, funding and milestone payments made to the Laval,Quebec company. The deal is for a three-year period, but anyroyalties that come from products will be split.

The research is to involve a lead compound, BCH-150, which isin the preclinical stage of development. This compound andothers are synthetic narcotics that can act on the samereceptors as compounds derived from opium. They act as painkillers.

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