Date: 2016-08-02
Type of information: Product acquisition
Compound: oral Neuronal Nicotinic Receptor (NNR) assets
Company: Catalyst Biosciences (USA - CA) Attenua (USA)
Therapeutic area: CNS diseases - Respiratory diseases - Rare diseases
Type agreement: product acquisition
Action mechanism: Neuronal Nicotinic Receptor agonist
Disease:
Details: * On August 2, 2016, Catalyst Biosciences announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell to Attenua, Inc. certain oral Neuronal Nicotinic Receptor (NNR) assets that were under development by Targacept prior to its 2015 merger with Catalyst. Catalyst is focused on developing protease-based medicines in the fields of hemostasis and inflammation, and prior to its merger with Targacept, decided not to develop the NNR assets. NNR agonists are a class of central nervous system drugs targeting neuronal nicotinic receptors (NNRs), also known as neuronal acetylcholine nicotinic receptors (nAChRs), which modulate the flow of neurotransmission throughout the brain and nervous system. Under the terms of the agreement, Attenua will acquire certain oral NNR assets including related intellectual property rights and materials. The assets sold to Attenua include three molecules that have aggregate clinical experience in over 1200 patients with depression, ADHD and Alzheimer’s disease in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. Attenua President and Chief Executive Officer, Jing Liang, Ph.D., commented, “We are very excited about these clinical stage assets and their therapeutic potential. We plan to repurpose one molecule for cough, and another for a rare pediatric disorder. With the clinical data in a few central nervous system indications already generated, we plan to move directly into a Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial in cough in 2017.”
Financial terms: The divestiture provides an upfront payment to Catalyst and may also allow Catalyst to receive up to a total of $105 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments as well as royalties on net sales from Attenua.
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