Ligand Pharmaceuticals and U.K. Firm Forge Ties

Ligand Pharmaceuticals of San Diego and Glaxo Inc., a major English drug company, have established a joint research program to develop drugs for the treatment of atherosclerosis, a disease that often leads to heart attacks or strokes.

Glaxo will invest $10 million in Ligand in exchange for a 6% stake in the privately held company that was formed in 1987. Ligand has filed with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering that is now scheduled to occur before the year ends.

Ligand will also receive an undisclosed amount of funding from Glaxo to conduct research, Ligand President David E. Robinson said Wednesday. Ligand, which has 120 San Diego-based employees, will add about 10 workers to conduct research for Glaxo.

Glaxo will make research payments to Ligand at “key development milestones,” Robinson said. The English company will retain exclusive worldwide marketing rights to products generated by the partnership and will pay Ligand royalties based on product sales.

The joint research effort will link Ligand’s proprietary technology with Glaxo’s research and development abilities and its international marketing prowess, Robinson said.

Ligand is considered the world leader in the identification of receptors, biological mechanisms that, when functioning properly, determine plasma lipid and cholesterol levels. When the levels are too high, fatty plaques form on the walls of arteries, often leading to heart attacks or strokes.

Glaxo researchers will search through the company’s collection of molecules to determine which agents cause receptors to properly regulate plasma lipid and cholesterol levels.