Oxford GlycoSystems Ltd. and The Upjohn Co. agreedThursday to collaborate on the development ofcarbohydrate-based inhibitors of P-selectin mediated celladhesion for inflammatory diseases.

Oxford, of Oxford, England, will receive up-front andresearch payments in the two-year research portion of thedeal. If extended Oxford then would be eligible formilestone and royalty payments. Specific terms weren'trevealed.

"Upjohn has an extensive cell adhesion program," saidRobert Burns, president and general manager of OxfordGlycoTherapeutics, Oxford's drug discovery unit. "Theirinterest in our technology is to see whether we can helpthem tackle the key problem in all selectin antagonists,which is multivalency."

Oxford formerly was collaborating in the area withLondon-based SmithKline Beecham plc. Dale Pfost,Oxford's president and CEO, said that relationship wassuccessful in that a "considerable amount of structureactivity relationship mapping of the selectin area" wasaccomplished. Oxford is looking both at naturalcarbohydrates and carbohydrate mimetics.

Upjohn, of Kalamazoo, Mich., said it views the venturewith Oxford as an opportunity to enhance its internaladhesion programs. Work in the P-selectin area couldopen up new opportunities in other areas in whichglycoprotein receptors play a role.

Pfost said Oxford has about six compounds in lateresearch stages, and that the company could form as manyas three collaborations by the end of 1996. "We have a lotof bricks in place to address novel interventionstrategies," he said. "We think in the next 12 to 24months some of the projects we're working on will proveglycobiology is an exciting area." _ Jim Shrine

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.