Seeking to bolster its portfolio of new products, GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. has agreed to pay as much as $270 million to Adolor Corp., of Exton, for rights to codevelop and market a promising new bowel medicine.

Glaxo, the world's second-largest pharmaceutical company, also signed a deal to pay Unigene Laboratories Inc. up to $150 million to license an osteoporosis treatment, aimed at preventing loss of bone mass in older patients.

Adolor said the licensing agreement represented "one of the largest single-product deals" between a major pharmaceutical company and small biotechnology firm to commercialize a drug, said Peter J. Schied, Adolor's vice president and chief financial officer.

Glaxo, which has major offices and research-and-development operations in the Philadelphia area, will pay Adolor a $50 million signing fee and as much as $220 million in future payments to codevelop and market the drug alvimopan. Adolor had 122 full-time employees in Exton and Malvern at the end of 2001.

"It's a win-win scenario," Schied said. Glaxo is a major international drugmaker with "excellent experience in the gastrointestinal field."

Because the licensing agreement was made later in testing phase, Adolor "was able to retain a significant portion of the economic returns," Schied said.

The agreement with Glaxo "allows us to leverage our balance sheet so that we can work on other products. We are not a one-product company," Schied said. "This frees up resources so we can work on other opportunities."

A study published in October in the New England Journal of Medicine said patients who got Adolor's experimental compound left the hospital a day sooner and had fewer unpleasant symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting.

Adolor's drug works by blocking the side effects, such as constipation, of current narcotic painkillers.

"We have a lot of clinical data" showing the molecule blocks the ill effects of painkillers on the digestive system and speeds bowel recovery after abdominal surgery.

Fairfield, N.J.-based Unigene's parathyroid hormone for osteoporosis is in pre-clinical testing. Adolor's compound is in the last of three phases of human testing needed for regulatory approval. Adolor expects to file a new drug application with the Food and Drug Administration the first half of next year.

Glaxo's strategy has been to license drugs of other firms to add to its line of medicines. Last year, Glaxo licensed 10 outside drugs, including a partnership with Germany's Bayer AG on an impotence treatment, vardenafil, to compete with Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra.

Glaxo chief executive officer Jean-Pierre Garnier said in February that he expected to acquire more products. Some analysts have questioned whether Glaxo was coming up with new drugs fast enough to replace sales of older medicines lost to cheaper rival generic drugs.

Bob Kirby, an analyst with Edward Jones, said that while Glaxo faces patent challenges on several medicines, including Augmentin, Paxil and Wellbutrin, the "outcome remains to be seen." Glaxo's longer-term portfolio of new products looks pretty good, he said. And partnerships with other companies to license their drugs "fills in some of the gaps.

"You get to be Glaxo's size," Kirby said, "people want to do business with you because of your marketing and research capabilities - and your deep pockets."

Shares of Glaxo rose 46 cents, to close at $46.72. Adolor shares increased $2.94, to close at $12.79.

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Contact Linda Loyd at 215-854-4822 or lloyd@phillynews.com.