Denovo Biopharma Acquires Global Rights To Depression Drug Candidate

Denovo Biopharma, a San Diego-Hangzhou company, acquired a global license to liafensine, a potential treatment for major depressive disorder, from Albany Molecular Research. Denovo will use its biomarker technology in a retrospective genomics study to identify a subset of patients in which liafensine works best. Bristol-Myers Squibb, which had in-licensed the drug, abandoned its development of liafensine because the candidate equaled, but did not outperform Lilly's Cymbalta. Liafensine is a serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor.