Five Prime strikes deal with GSK for asthma, COPD drugs

Five Prime Therapeutics Inc., a South San Francisco-based biotechnology company, has entered into a drug discovery collaboration with U.K.-based biotechnology giant GlaxoSmithKline — the second collaboration of its kind between the two companies.
The collaboration will give GlaxoSmithKline exclusive access to therapeutic drugs developed by Five Prime for refractory asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Five Prime names founder Rusty Williams as president and CEO

Five Prime Therapeutics Inc. made Lewis Williams, M.D., president and CEO, thus confirming him in a job he’s held temporarily since August.
Williams has been temporary CEO of Five Prime since Julia Gregory quit as CEO last summer. Gregory herself had replaced CEO Gail Maderis in 2009.

Fast 100: Discovery, deals boost Five Prime's bottom line

Five Prime Therapeutics Inc. is an anomaly.
A drug-development company without any drugs on the market, South San Francisco-based Five Prime has increased revenue in each of the past three years, reaching $23.7 million last year while hitting a three-year compound growth rate of more than 52 percent.
What’s more, Five Prime expects a double-digit percentage point jump in revenue in 2011.

Report: Five Prime CEO departs, Rusty Williams takes over

Five Prime Therapeutics founder Lewis “Rusty” Williams has replaced Julia Gregory as CEO, Elsevier Inc.’s In Vivo Blog reported.
A Five Prime spokeswoman confirmed that Gregory is no longer with the company, the blog reported. A Five Prime spokeswoman did not return a phone message left by the San Francisco Business Times.
Gregory replaced Gail Maderis as CEO in 2009, coming from Lexicon Pharmaceuticals.

FivePrime, Dyax enter antibody R&D deal

FivePrime Therapeutics Inc. will tap the libraries and technology of Dyax Corp. in a research deal aimed at developing and commercializing antibody drugs.
The value of the deal was not disclosed, but the collaboration could help privately held FivePrime, a South San Francisco-based developer of protein and antibody drugs in the areas of oncology, immunology and metabolic diseases, expand its pipeline of product candidates.

FivePrime inks potential $500M cancer drug deal with Human Genome Sciences

FivePrime Therapeutics Inc. will get $50 million upfront and as much as $445 million in future payments from Human Genome Sciences Inc. in a deal around FivePrime’s cancer-fighting genetically engineered protein drug.
The early-stage drug, called FP-1039, could be used against many types of cancers. It is in a Phase I trial but patients are being screened for a Phase II trial against a form of gynelogic cancer that attacks the lining of the uterus.