Tercica, Genentech Team Up

Tercica(TRCA Quote) on late Tuesday said it's partnering with Genentech(DNA Quote) to develop two products to treat hormone deficiencies in adults.

The companies said they would combine products -- Tercica's Increlex, a recombinant insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and Genentech's Nutropin AQ, a recombinant human growth hormone -- to treat short stature, adult growth hormone deficiency and, possibly, other metabolic disorders.

"With demonstrated synergies in pre-clinical studies, the combination of rhGH and rhIGF-1 could have the potential for several important therapeutic benefits compared to either rhGH or rhIGF-1 monotherapy alone for the treatment of patients with short stature and AGHD and potentially other adult metabolic disorders," said Tercica CEO John Scarlett.

According to the agreement, announced after the market's close, Genentech will pay Tercica up to $53 million in equity payments, opt-in payments, research and development cost reimbursement and milestone payments. The company will also pay $4 million for 708,591 shares of Tercica's common stock. ...