By Chris Wack

Amgen Inc. said it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with Generate Biomedicines to discover and create protein therapeutics for five clinical targets across several therapeutic areas and multiple modalities.

As part of the collaboration, Amgen said it will pay $50 million in upfront funding for the initial five programs, with a potential transaction value of $1.9 billion plus future royalties, and will have the option to nominate up to five additional programs at additional cost.

For each program, Amgen said it will pay up to $370 million in future milestones and royalties up to low double digits. Amgen will also participate in a future financing round for Generate. Additional terms weren't disclosed.

Write to Chris Wack at chris.wack@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-06-22 0929ET