June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Eli Lilly & Co. will pay TransPharma Medical Ltd. $35 million to license and develop its experimental osteoporosis drug.  Lilly, based in Indianapolis, forecast a charge against 2008 earnings of 2 cents a share as a result of the agreement, which also could entitle closely held TransPharma, based in Lod, Israel, to milestone payments and royalties, the companies said today in a statement. The charge could appear in second quarter or third quarter, depending whether the deal closes in June or July, said Mark Taylor, a Lilly spokesman, in a phone interview.

The experimental drug, called ViaDerm-hPTH (1-34), is a skin patch linked to a pocket-sized electronic control unit, according to the TransPharma Web site. The drug is in the second of three phases of human testing usually required by U.S. regulators for approval. Tests so far show it's about as safe as Lilly's injectable Forteo, according to TransPharma.

``This agreement expands the scope of our osteoporosis program with a novel, patient-centered approach that builds upon our success with Evista and Forteo,'' said Gwen Krivi, vice president of Lilly Research Labs, in the statement.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced in April that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted tentative approval for its generic version of Evista.