Monday, January 08, 2007

Roche scrape the barrel


Roche has signed a deal with the USA's Synosis Therapeutics in a bid to give some of its discarded early-stage treatments for schizophrenia, cognitive disorders, Parkinson's, drug dependency and pain a better chance of getting to market.

Under the terms of the agreement, financial details for which have not been disclosed, Synosis will acquire from the Swiss major five drug candidates that Roche had already stopped developing, including four Phase I molecules, which target the central nervous system.

The US privately-held firm, which has only just been set up with initial funding of $32.5 million from investment firms Versant Vectures 5AM and Abingworth, as well as Novo A/S, will now assume responsibility for the clinical development and, in some cases, commercialisation of the aforementioned candidates, while Roche will retain the right to opt-in to two pre-selected programmes.

Source: PharmaTimes

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