Axerion Therapeutics and AstraZeneca to Develop and Commercialize a Biologic Approach for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

May 1, 2012 - Axerion Therapeutics, Inc., a private Connecticut-based biotechnology company, and MedImmune the global biologics arm of AstraZeneca, announced that they have entered into a research collaboration and sublicense arrangement to develop and commercialize a biologic approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The agreement with Axerion is the first collaboration signed within the new Neuroscience Innovative Medicines Unit that AstraZeneca announced in February 2012. Under this model, AstraZeneca and MedImmune will conduct neuroscience discovery research and early development for small and large molecules by tapping into the best available external science and sharing cost, risk and reward with other research partners active in psychiatry, neurology and pain research.

Under the terms of the agreement, Axerion has granted the AstraZeneca Neuroscience Innovative Medicines Unit an exclusive sublicense* to research, develop and commercialize a pre-clinical biologic that targets the binding of A-beta oligimers to prion proteins.

In exchange, the AstraZeneca Neuroscience Innovative Medicines Unit will provide Axerion with certain upfront and milestone payments plus research and development (R&D) funding during the time both companies are working together on the program. Additionally, Axerion will earn royalties on product sales. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed... Axerion Therapeutics' Press Release -

Targacept : Decision by AstraZeneca to Advance AZD1446 in Alzheimer’s Disease

January 05, 2012 - Targacept, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRGT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel NNR Therapeutics™, announced that AstraZeneca has informed the company that it plans to progress the development of Targacept’s product candidate AZD1446 as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

AZD1446 is a selective modulator of the alpha4beta2 neuronal nicotinic receptor that arose out of a research collaboration conducted by Targacept and AstraZeneca. Under the terms of a 2005 collaborative research and license agreement, AstraZeneca is responsible for conducting and funding the development and potential commercialization of AZD1446. The next clinical trial of AZD1446 is expected to be a Phase 2 study as an adjunct treatment to donepezil in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease... Targacept's Press Release -

Neoprobe Licenses AstraZeneca Imaging Agent for Amyloid Detection to Aid Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

December 12, 2011 - Neoprobe Corporation (NYSE Amex: NEOP) announced that it has in-licensed the worldwide exclusive rights from AstraZeneca to the late-stage radiopharmaceutical imaging candidate, AZD4694, for aiding the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

AZD4694 is a Fluorine-18 labeled precision radiopharmaceutical candidate for use in the imaging and evaluation of patients with signs or symptoms of cognitive impairment such as AD. It binds to Beta-amyloid deposits in the brain that can then be imaged in positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Amyloid plaque pathology is a required feature of AD diagnosis and the presence of amyloid pathology is a supportive feature for diagnosis of probable AD. Patients who are negative for amyloid pathology do not have AD.

Clinical studies in more than 70 patients suggest that AZD4694 has the ability to image patients quickly and safely with high sensitivity. Importantly, AZD4694 exhibits low background and white matter uptake, thereby providing clear images of Beta-amyloid deposits. Neoprobe intends to initiate a Phase III clinical program in early 2013, while simultaneously building the requisite safety and training database. Patents and patent applications filed around the world related to AZD4694 are effective until 2028... [PDF] Neoprobe's Press Release -

Milestone transition in Astex Alzheimer’s Disease collaboration with AstraZeneca

25 October 2010 - Astex Therapeutics, the UK based biotechnology company developing targeted therapies for oncology and virology, announced that AstraZeneca has selected a candidate drug from its collaborative drug discovery programme aimed at identifying novel, small molecule inhibitors of beta-secretase - a key enzyme implicated in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The selection of a candidate drug triggers a milestone payment to Astex which, under the terms of agreement, is eligible also to receive further milestones during clinical development and royalties on commercialisation of products derived from the collaboration. Financial details were not disclosed.

In the collaboration, Astex applied its fragment based drug discovery approach, Pyramid™, to identify novel lead compounds inhibiting the target. AstraZeneca is responsible for progressing the selected candidate drug through clinical development and eventually onto the market... Astex Therapeutics' Press Release -

AstraZeneca and Targacept : top-line results from Phase IIb study of AZD3480 in Alzheimer’s disease

September 15, 2008 – AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) and Targacept, Inc. announced that results from the Phase IIb clinical trial of AZD3480 (TC-1734) conducted by AstraZeneca in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease were inconclusive.

In the 12-week placebo-controlled study, known as the Sirocco trial, neither the active comparator donepezil nor AZD3480 met the trial’s criteria for statistical significance on the primary outcome measure, ADAS-Cog (Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale – Cognition Subscale.) Both results were impacted by an improvement in the placebo group.

At two of the three doses tested, AZD3480 showed an improvement on the secondary outcome measures ADCS-CGIC (Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study – Clinical Global Impression of Change, a 7-point scale), a widely accepted measure of clinician assessment of change in patients’ behavior and ability to function, and MMSE (Mini Mental State Examination, a 30-point scale), a quantitative cognition scale commonly used by neurologists in a clinical setting. Of the three AZD3480 doses, the middle dose performed best on both measures (0.5 point improvement, ADCS-CGIC and 0.9 point improvement, MMSE). Donepezil also showed an improvement on ADCS-CGIC (0.2 point improvement) and the MMSE (1.0 point improvement). Neither donepezil nor AZD3480 showed improvement in any domain of the Cognitive Drug Research computerized test battery in the pooled dataset of all subjects... AstraZeneca's Press Release - Targacept's Press Release -

AstraZeneca and Washington University In St. Louis : Alzheimer's Research Collaboration

April 17, 2008 — Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) have announced a research collaboration that aims to develop new and improved ways to diagnose and treat Alzheimer's disease.


The major focus of the alliance will be biomarkers, characteristic changes in the brain and spinal fluid, that physicians can use to diagnose Alzheimer's disease and track its response to treatment. “Alzheimer’s disease is already a huge public health problem that is increasing exponentially," says David M. Holtzman, M.D., the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at the School of Medicine, and neurologist-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. "To prevent this disease with new treatments that are currently on the horizon, we need better ways to diagnose the disease before people become cognitively impaired. We are pleased to be collaborating with AstraZeneca on this important initiative.”... AstraZeneca's Press Release -

AstraZeneca and Banner Alzheimer's Institute, collaboration to evaluate new tool targeting Alzheimer's disease

December 19, 2007 — The Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) announced that they will collaborate to help advance understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and increase knowledge of potential new avenues for treatment through the use of cutting-edge brain imaging methods. The new alliance will focus on the evaluation and further development of a radioligand discovered by AstraZeneca. This radioligand is a molecule that binds to amyloid plaque — protein deposits in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease — and allows the plaque to be measured in real time using a positron emission tomography (PET) scan... The Banner Alzheimer’s Institute's Press Release -