Addex Extends Parkinson's Disease Collaboration with Merck & Co.,
Inc.
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin AS.The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geneva, Switzerland, 2 December 2009 - Allosteric modulation companyAddex Pharmaceuticals (SIX:ADXN) announced today the extension of itsresearch collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., through an affiliate,for an additional year. The collaboration is focused on developingpositive allosteric modulators (PAM) of the metabotropic glutamatereceptor 4 (mGluR4) for the treatment of Parkinson's disease andother undisclosed indications.Addex will receive research funding from Merck in addition to theoriginal financial terms, which include milestones and royalties.Earlier this year Addex disclosed that a preclinical study had shownthat the collaboration had yielded orally available mGluR4 PAM withefficacy in an animal model of Parkinson's disease."We are delighted that Merck values the contribution of ourallosteric modulator discovery platform and wishes to include us inbuilding further upon the excellent progress this program has made todate," said Emmanuel Le Poul, head of the CNS Business Unit at Addex."Developing innovative non-dopaminergic drugs for Parkinson's diseaseis an increasingly important part of our work at Addex," said VincentMutel, CEO of Addex. "We are proud to be advancing mGluR4 PAMs withour collaborators at Merck."Under the terms of the exclusive collaboration and license agreement,first announced in December 2007, Addex received $3 million upfrontand has received two preclinical milestones of $250,000 and $500,000,to date. Addex is eligible to receive up to $106.5 million inresearch, development and regulatory milestones for the first productdeveloped for multiple indications. Additional milestones of up to$61 million would be payable if a second and third product isdeveloped. Addex is eligible to receive undisclosed royalties onsales of any products resulting from this collaboration. Merck isresponsible for clinical development. Extension of the researchcollaboration allows Addex to recognize $1.8 million in researchfunding over 12 months beginning on December 1, 2009.Glutamate, like dopamine and serotonin, is a key neurotransmitter inthe human brain, an important signaling molecule involved in controlof multiple brain functions ranging from motor control to mood. InParkinson's disease, the death of dopamine producing neurons leads toexcess glutamate signaling.Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disease of the brain that oftenimpairs motor skills, speech, and other functions. It is estimatedthat 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S., where morethan 1.5 million people currently have PD. While the conditionusually develops after the age of 65, 15% of those diagnosed areunder 50. PD affects both men and women in almost equal numbers.mGluR4 may play an important role in Parkinson's disease. Currenttreatments focus on dopamine-replacement strategies, however mostpatients reach a stage where dopaminergic treatments are no longereffective. There can also be debilitating side effects withdopaminergic treatments, especially levodopa induced dyskinesia, andmany patients are encouraged to limit doses so their side effectswill appear later and be less cumbersome. The recent success ofsurgical approaches suggests that bypassing the dopamine system mayprovide a more effective treatment strategy. It is believed thatselective activation of mGluR4 is one way to do this and couldcorrect the circuitry that modulates motor excitability via anon-dopaminergic mechanism.Published research* shows that mGluR4 activators, like those indevelopment by Addex and Merck, could work via two distinctmechanisms to alleviate symptoms of Parkinson's disease and,potentially, even slow the progression of the disease: 1) mGluR4activation triggers a compensatory mechanism that may spare orpotentiate the use of dopamine receptor activators; 2) mGluR4activation may have a neuroprotective effect that helps to preservethe brain's dopaminergic neurons. Thus, this approach has thepotential to provide significant benefit in Parkinson's disease.*Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Vol 6, Oct. 2005, pp 787-798Addex Pharmaceuticals (www.addexpharma.com) discovers and developsallosteric modulators for human health. Allosteric modulators are adifferent kind of orally available small molecule therapeutic agent,which we believe will offer a competitive advantage over classicaldrugs. Our lead allosteric modulator product, ADX10059, an mGluR5NAM, has achieved clinical proof of concept and is in Phase IIbtesting for the treatment of GERD and, separately, migraineprevention. ADX48621, an mGluR5 NAM, has completed Phase I testingand will enter Phase II for PD-LID in 2010. Addex partnerOrtho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company, isperforming Phase I testing of ADX71149, an mGluR2 PAM, which haspotential for anxiety and schizophrenia.Chris MaggosHead of IR & CommunicationsAddex Pharmaceuticals+41 22 884 15 11chris.maggos(at)addexpharma.comDisclaimer: The foregoing release contains forward-looking statementsthat can be identified by terminology such as "not approvable","continue", "believes", "believe", "will", "remained open toexploring", "would", "could", or similar expressions, or by expressor implied discussions regarding Addex Pharmaceuticals Ltd, itsbusiness, the potential approval of its products by regulatoryauthorities, or regarding potential future revenues from suchproducts. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current viewsof Addex Pharmaceuticals Ltd regarding future events, and involveknown and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that maycause actual results with allosteric modulators of mGluR4, mGluR2 ormGluR5 to be materially different from any future results,performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements.There can be no guarantee that allosteric modulators of mGluR4,mGluR2 or mGluR5 will be approved for sale in any market or by anyregulatory authority. Nor can there be any guarantee that allostericmodulators of mGluR4, mGluR2 or mGluR5 will achieve any particularlevels of revenue (if any) in the future. In particular, management'sexpectations regarding allosteric modulators of mGluR4, mGluR2 ormGluR5 could be affected by, among other things, unexpected actionsby our partners, unexpected regulatory actions or delays orgovernment regulation generally; unexpected clinical trial results,including unexpected new clinical data and unexpected additionalanalysis of existing clinical data; competition in general;government, industry and general public pricing pressures; thecompany's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietaryintellectual property protection. Should one or more of these risksor uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions proveincorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated,believed, estimated or expected. Addex Pharmaceuticals is providingthe information in this press release as of this date and does notundertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statementscontained in this press release as a result of new information,future events or otherwise. --- End of Message ---Addex Pharmaceuticals12, chemin des Aulx Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva SwitzerlandISIN: CH0029850754; Index: SLIFE, SPI, SPIEX, SSCI;Listed: Main Market in SIX Swiss Exchange;
Datum: 02.12.2009 - 07:00 Uhr
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