September 30, 2010 (FinancialWire) (Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=ftrdnwswnd for all of today’s featured news.) — Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIGL) said that it has earned $25 million from AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) for the fulfillment of two milestones in an agreement the two companies have regarding the clinical development of fostamatinib (R788), a novel oral syk inhibitor.

The first milestone is for initiation of the phase 3 clinical program with fostamatinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that was announced by AstraZeneca on September 29.  The second milestone marks the completion of the transfer of the fostamatinib long-term open label extension study from Rigel to AstraZeneca.

In February 2010, Rigel granted AstraZeneca exclusive rights to the future development and commercialization of fostamatinib.

RA is a systemic autoimmune inflammatory disease that causes damage to the joints and other organs.

California-based Rigel is a clinical-stage drug development company that discovers and develops novel, small-molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, as well as muscle and metabolic diseases.

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