Biogen Corp. has reached a joint agreement with Australia’s largestbiopharmaceutical company, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories Ltd., to research and develophirulog, a molecule based on a leech protein, as a human therapeutic.

The agreement--Biogen’s second license involving the anti-thrombotic--coversAustralia, New Zealand and certain other countries in the South Pacific. Commonwealth willbe responsible for preclinical and clinical development, and all regulatory filings, whileBiogen (NASDAQ:BGEN) of Cambridge, Mass., will receive license and research payments, andsupply and royalty fees once the drug is marketed.

Hirulog, currently in clinical trials, is based on the structure of hirudin, a clotdissolver isolated from the saliva of the medicinal leech.

Mallinckrodt Medical Inc. has a worldwide licensing agreement with Biogen to developimaging agents from hirulog to find blood clots in veins and arteries.