Cambridge biotech company Astex Therapeutics has achieved multiple early milestones in its fragment-based drug discovery collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline which commenced in November 2009.

Astex, which is developing targeted therapies for oncology and virology, says total milestone payments received under the collaboration have now reached £5.9 million.

The milestones relate to the application of Astex’s Pyramid™ fragment based screening platform, against a number of molecular targets of interest to GSK.

Following the identification of validated fragment hits, the joint project teams prioritise fragments to be taken into lead optimisation with the intention of selecting clinical development candidates for further development by GSK.

Astex CEO Dr Harren Jhoti said: “We are delighted to have achieved these initial milestones within 18 months of beginning our collaboration with GSK.

“This achievement is testament, not only to the power of Astex’s technology to rapidly deliver novel chemical start points against challenging disease targets, but is also a reflection of how well the Astex-GSK joint project teams are working together in the collaboration.”

Last month Astex was acquired by California-based SuperGen, Inc. in what Jhoti described as a merger of equals. The merger is set to forge a global oncology powerhouse with a huge war chest for drug development. The new entity – Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc – will be listed on NASDAQ.