P&G licenses GI product

Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals will develop and commercialize ARYx's ATI-7505, currently in Phase II trials for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. P&G will pay $25 million up front; milestone and royalty payments could bring the value of the deal to $435 million. ATI-7505, an oral serotonin type 4 agonist, is in the same class of drugs as Propulsid, which was withdrawn because of safety issues after raking in almost $1 billion in sales. ARYx says it engineered ATI-7505 to work by the same mechanism as Propulsid, but without the negative side effects. Manufacturing of ATI-7505 was outsourced earlier to Ultrafine, now part of Sigma-Aldrich's SAFC unit.