ABBOTT PARK, Ill. — Abbott has made a pact with a biopharmaceutical company to develop new cancer treatments by making small-molecule inhibitors.

Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott will provide EpiTherapeutics with an up-front payment and will receive funding of research activities conducted at EpiTherapeutics. The biopharmaceutical company also is eligible, under certain conditions, to receive milestone payments as well as potential royalties on future revenues.

"Abbott's oncology research is focused on the discovery and development of targeted, less toxic therapies that work against the processes cancers need to survive," said James Sullivan, pharmaceuticals discovery VP at Abbott. "The varied nature of the cancer requires a diverse approach looking at multiple disease targets in different tumor types and we look forward to working with EpiTherapeutics to accelerate our development of new anti-cancer drugs."