CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and TOKYO, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Galenea Corp. and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced today the further extension of their research and development collaboration through 2011. This latest extension increases the collaboration term to seven years and brings the total committed funding to approximately $90 million. The companies have been working together since January 2005 with the goal of discovering and developing first-in-class therapies for schizophrenia and other central nervous system (CNS) diseases based on the calcineurin pathway. The agreement was previously extended for one year in October 2008.
"We are very enthusiastic about extending our collaboration with Galenea. We have seen substantial progress toward our goal of identifying clinical development candidates with new mechanisms of action for the treatment of schizophrenia," commented Taro Iwamoto, Ph.D., President and Representative Director of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. "Through this collaboration with Galenea, we hope to enhance our research in the CNS field by taking advantage of their unconventional point of view and scientific approach. Our goal for this collaboration is the contribution of new therapies to patients in need. These innovative new therapies will add to our CNS portfolio which includes our antipsychotic agent and other compounds in earlier phases of development," added Dr. Iwamoto.
Galenea and Otsuka have made significant advances in several projects within the collaboration, including the progression of several molecules to the late lead optimization stage. Each project represents a potential therapeutic with a novel mechanism of action for treating many common symptoms in schizophrenia and related disorders. Galenea intends to deliver a clinical development candidate to Otsuka next year.
About Otsuka Pharmaceutical
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd., the holding company for the Otsuka Group. The Otsuka Group comprises 153 companies and employs approximately 36,000 people in 23 countries and regions worldwide. Otsuka and its consolidated subsidiaries earned 955.9 billion Yen (approx. US $9.7 billion*) in annual revenues in fiscal 2008.
About Galenea
CONTACT: Michael D. Rivard, Head of Corporate Development, Galenea Corp.,
mrivard@galenea.com, +1-617-374-1010 x2305, or Masamitsu Kitadam, Public
Relations Department, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., kitadams@otsuka.jp
Web site: http://www.galenea.com/