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Neurocrine Biosciences and Sosei Heptares Announce Collaboration to Develop Novel Muscarinic Receptor Agonists for Schizophrenia and Other Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Neurocrine Biosciences anticipates initiating a Phase 2 study with the selective M4 agonist HTL-0016878 in schizophrenia in 2022 and Phase 1 studies for a
About this update from Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Neurocrine Biosciences anticipates initiating a Phase 2 study with the selective M4 agonist HTL-0016878 in schizophrenia in 2022 and Phase 1 studies for a dual M1/M4 and selective M1 agonist in 2023\n Sosei Heptares receives US$100 million upfront, ongoing R&D funding, and up to US$2.6 billion in potential development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, plus tiered sales royalties\n\n\nSAN DIEGO and TOKYO and CAMBRIDGE, England, Nov. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBIX) and Sosei Group Corporation (\"Sosei Heptares\"; TSE: 4565) announce the signing of a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement to develop novel muscarinic receptor agonists, which Neurocrine Biosciences intends to study in the treatment for schizophrenia, dementia and other neuropsychiatric disorders.\nUnder the terms of the agreement, Neurocrine Biosciences gains development and commercialization rights to a broad portfolio of novel clinical and preclinical subtype-selective muscarinic M4, M1 and dual M1/M4 receptor agonists discovered by Sosei Heptares in development for the treatment of major neurological disorders. The most advanced program, HTL-0016878, is a selective M4 agonist. Neurocrine Biosciences plans to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application and initiate a placebo-controlled Phase 2 study with HTL-0016878 as a potential treatment for schizophrenia in 2022. \nSosei Heptares retains the rights to develop M1 agonists in Japan in all indications, with Neurocrine Biosciences receiving co-development and profit share options. \nMuscarinic receptors are central to brain function and validated as drug targets in psychosis and cognitive disorders. Sosei Heptares has discovered selective muscarinic M4, M1 and M1/M4 dual agonists that offer the potential to deliver therapeutic effects while avoiding both the harmful side effects caused by non-selective agonists and efficacy issues experienced in some older patients caused by positive allosteric modulators that require cooperativity of diminishing levels of acetylcholine. Sosei Heptares achieved this through application of its world leading G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) stabilized receptor platform (StaR®) and subsequent translational medicine studies. \n\"Our partnership collaboration with Sosei Heptares to advance their selective muscarinic ag...