California-based Zacharon Pharmaceuticals has entered into a strategic research collaboration with Pfizer to develop drugs for orphan diseases, including lysosomal storage disorders. The estimated value of the collaboration to Zacharon is $210 million. The collaboration includes the development of compounds that may be discovered using Zacharon's innovative platform for developing small molecule drugs targeting specific carbohydrate polymers or glycans.

"We are very pleased to be working with Pfizer, which has broad compound development expertise, including in the area of small molecules, which should be quite useful to developing drugs for these orphan diseases," said Robin Jackman, Ph.D., president and CEO of Zacharon. "The collaboration provides validation for the potential that lies in Zacharon's broadly applicable technology platform."