In one of the biggest sales of a local biotech asset, Australian drug developer Spinifex Pharmaceuticals has been snapped up by Swiss giant Novartis International in a deal worth almost $1 billion.

The Melbourne and US-based private company, which is developing a drug for the treatment of chronic pain, will receive a $US200 million ($262m) upfront payment, plus additional development and regulatory milestone payments that could take the total to about $US700m.

Spinifex chairman Heath ­Lukatch said the success of the company, and the tremendous ­potential for its oral treatment for patients suffering from neuropathic pain, were ­significant ­examples of how an international venture capital syndicate, ­partnering with Australian-based ­investors, could bring university technology closer to commercialisation.

“We have tremendous respect for Novartis’s clinical development and commercial expertise, their passion for neuroscience and their commitment to helping patients who are suffering from neuropathic pain,” he said.

Spinifex was founded in 2005 to progress a technology developed by Maree Smith and Bruce Wyse at the University of Queensland. The technology is aimed at improving the treatment for chronic pain, particularly neuropathic pain.

For more details, go to: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/novartis-snares-spinifex-in-1bn-pharmaceuticals-deal/story-fn91v9q3-1227420731027