AstraZeneca announced two licensing deals Wednesday to bolster its drug pipeline, a day after reporting that it will record a charge of $381.5 million related to setbacks for other experimental compounds.

Under the first agreement, AstraZeneca obtained an option from Astellas' Prosidion unit to acquire the two G protein-coupled receptor GPR119 agonists PSN821 and PSN842, which are being developed to treat type 2 diabetes. AstraZeneca will pay an undisclosed option fee, and in the event it acquires the oral drugs, will pay Prosidion an undisclosed upfront payment and milestone payments.

PSN821 is currently in mid-stage development, while PSN842 is scheduled to enter clinical trials. AstraZeneca noted that the exercise of the option is dependent upon results of the Phase IIa trial of PSN821 and the evaluation of preclinical work.

Under the second deal, AstraZeneca entered into an agreement with Hutchison MediPharma, which is majority owned by Chi-Med, for a global licence to co-develop and market the c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor volitinib. AstraZeneca will make a $20-million upfront payment for the license, as well as up to $120 million based on clinical development and sales milestones.

The companies plan to share development costs for the drug in China, while the UK company will lead and pay for the development of volitinib in the rest of the world. The agreement for the compound, which is about to enter Phase I development, also contains "significant" future commercial sale milestones and up to double-digit percentage royalties on net sales.

(Ref: Yahoo!News, Interactive Investors, NASDAQ, London South East, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, AstraZeneca)