The partners Auxilium and Pfizer decide to review a drug which treats people suffering from a debilitating hand disease. To begin the review, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals will get a $15 million milestone payment from its partner Pfizer Inc. after they got permission from European regulators.

Under the partnership terms, Pfizer has special and exclusive rights to sell the drug Xiaflex in the 27 member countries of the European Union and 19 other European and Eurasian countries.

Pfizer will undertake the task of working with regulators in those countries. Dupuytren’s contracture, the hand disorder, affects the underlying connective tissue beneath the skin in the palm and is progressive in nature.

Nodules, typically, develop in the palm due to the accumulation of collagen deposits. The collagen deposits form a cord, as the disease advances stretching from the palm of the hand to the base of the finger.

After the cord is developed the fingers of the patient contract and the hand is not able to function normally.

The only available treatment for this condition, currently, is surgery.