Tripos announced this week that it has entered into a collaborative agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, whereby Tripos’ discovery informatics technology will be used as the basis for Wyeth’s next-generation discovery IT solution for its worldwide discovery operations.
Specifically, the project will tap Tripos’ Smart-Idea technology, which will give Wyeth Pharmaceuticals researchers a way to more easily share information, analyze results, and collaborate. The technology was developed by Tripos in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb, which then deployed it throughout the company’s U.S. and Canadian research facilities.
In the new collaboration, Wyeth’s Scientific Workbench will be based on Tripos’ Smart-Idea technology. The workbench, along with an integrated data repository, will allow cross-team collaboration to improve the way Wyeth scientists capture, manage, and use scientific data to conduct their research.
Tripos says that through the use of its Smart-Idea technology, discovery scientists can quickly combine data from disparate sources and analyze that data using a variety of decision-support tools.
Work on the project is already under way, and Tripos expects that the first phase of the project should be deployed to Wyeth researchers by the fall.
For its work on the project, Tripos will receive about $5 million for software licenses and professional services fees over the next 12 to 18 months. Payments over that time are contingent on meeting specific project milestones.
The news is welcome relief to the company. Tripos’ stock has taken a fall over the last year. And over the last few months, the business press has painted a gloomy picture about the company. To that end, there have been published reports about the need to reduce staff (particularly in the company’s England facilities).
And in December, the company concluded a long-term collaborative deal with Pfizer. That work brought in about $90 million over the four-year period of the relationship.
As the Pfizer deal was winding down, Tripos CEO and president John McAlister said the company’s software business would not be impacted by the completion of the Pfizer deal. However, he noted that Tripos might need to reorganize its discovery research unit. “We will carefully review staff levels to ensure that we can continue to deliver the highest quality service without impacting our existing and developing collaborations,” said McAlister. (McAlister’s comments came in a prepared statement.)
And earlier this week, Tripos announced it had engaged the financial advisory company Seven Hills Partners to “explore various strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value and enhance growth prospects” for its Tripos Discovery Informatics and Tripos Discovery Research core businesses.
The Seven Hills announcement, made Monday, said that the company was “considering a wide range of options including mergers and acquisitions, becoming a private company, and separating its informatics and research businesses.” The statement went on to say that there is no guarantee that Tripos would pursue any of these alternatives.
Against this background, the Wyeth deal was received as good news by the financial community. On Wednesday, the company’s stock shot up from 3.5307 to a high of 4.14 early in the morning and closed the day at 3.6796, which is just under an 11 percent increase from the day before.
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