Berkeley, CA-based Plexxikon, the developer of a novel treatment for a deadly skin cancer, said today it has exercised its right to co-promote the drug in the U.S. with Genentech, the South San Francisco-based unit of Roche. This means that Plexxikon plans to set up its own specialty sales force to help pitch PLX4032, a drug being developed for patients with melanoma who have a mutant form of a protein known as BRAF. Under the deal, Plexxikon will be eligible for “enhanced royalties” on product sales through its co-promotion, and Plexxikon will also reimburse Genentech for certain promotion costs. Plexxikon and Roche formed a partnership around PLX4032 in 2006.
Author: Luke Timmerman
Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.
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