Winston-Salem, NC Mar 08, 2001
Targacept, Inc., a privately held research and development pharmaceutical company, today announced a joint research, development and commercialization agreement with Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH of Freiburg, Germany, to develop a new class of drugs to treat ulcerative colitis. The disease, which has numerous debilitating effects on the gastrointestinal system, affects nearly one million people in the United States and Europe.
Dr. Falk Pharma is a leader in the development and marketing of therapies to treat conditions affecting the gastrointestinal tract. The company holds a significant percentage of the ulcerative colitis treatment market in Germany and in Europe.
Under the agreement, Targacept and Dr. Falk Pharma will jointly develop Targacept compounds into products for the European market. Dr. Falk Pharma will have distribution rights for those products in Europe, Israel and Egypt. Targacept will retain all rights to development and distribution in the rest of the world. Each company will pay royalties to the other based on product sales in its distribution area. Upon execution of the agreement, Dr. Falk Pharma paid Targacept a license fee and made an equity investment in Targacept. CPP Advisors, LLC, of Framingham, Mass., advised Targacept on the transaction.
The Targacept compounds under development act on a new class of therapeutic targets known as neuronal nicotinic receptors. These targets are present on nerve cells and respond to a chemical released by these cells to carry information across the synaptic cleft, the space between the cells. The first therapy to be jointly developed by the two companies is a compound that activates this response, believed to be defective in ulcerative colitis patients.
"Dr. Falk Pharma will be an excellent partner because, like Targacept, the company is a scientifically based, product-driven organization," said Don deBethizy, Ph.D, president and chief executive officer of Targacept. "Building on our substantial data, we expect to move quickly through clinical tests to bring the highest-quality product to market in a fast and responsible manner."
Dr. Stephen Hanauer, University of Chicago gastroenterologist and recognized clinical expert in the area of ulcerative colitis said, "Since nicotine has been shown to have beneficial effects in ulcerative colitis, the development of novel nicotinic compounds represents an exciting new approach to the treatment of this debilitating disease. Targacept is a leader in the development of nicotinic-based therapeutics and Dr. Falk Pharma is extremely well respected in the development and marketing of therapies for ulcerative colitis. Together, they will work to accelerate the development of new therapies to address a serious unmet medical need."
"This agreement will solidify Targacept's growth in the pharmaceutical business and strengthen our development capability and product focus," said deBethizy. "By securing this arrangement, we believe we are better positioned to fund future research and development initiatives and to realize market returns."
In addition to the Dr. Falk Pharma collaboration, Targacept is also engaged in a strategic alliance with Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a major global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Strasbourg, France, for the development of therapies to treat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Other Targacept research programs in progress include therapies to treat depression, pain, Tourette's syndrome, attention deficit disorder and schizophrenia.
Targacept was formed in 1997 based on a strong portfolio of patents and intellectual property and became an independent company in August 2000, following one of the largest first round private financings in U. S. biotechnology history.