Pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca will pay US$560 million up front for Pearl Therapeutics in Redwood City, California, which is developing an inhaled treatment for lung conditions such as bronchitis and emphysema (collectively known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). London-based AstraZeneca announced the purchase (which could cost up to $ 1.15 billion if other milestones are met) on 10 June. Six days earlier, it said that it had pulled the plug on a once-promising rheumatoid arthritis drug, fostamatinib, after a series of late-stage clinical-trial failures. The company returned licensing rights for the drug to biotechnology firm Rigel in South San Francisco, California, from whom it bought the rights for more than US$100 million in 2010 (see Nature http://doi.org/ fcxh6c;2010).
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