Marion Merrell Dow/Affymax

Executive Summary

Enter strategic alliance for drug discovery, initially targeted at arthritis, cancer, and autoimmune disease, the companies announced June 13. In return for an undisclosed equity investment, milestone payments, and royalties on any resulting products, Palo Alto-based Affymax will perform drug discovery and development work using its VLSIPS screening technology. MMD indicated that, in the future, the disease targets may be expanded to include respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal products, although terms would have to be renegotiated. The deal is the first for Affymax, a privately-held startup founded in 1988 by Alejandro Zaffaroni, PhD, the founder of Alza, Syntex and DNAX.