Acadia and Meiji Seika to co-develop pro-cognitive drugs

US biopharmaceuticals firm Acadia and Japan's Meiji Seika Kaish have established a collaboration to develop and commercialize a novel class  of pro-cognitive drugs to treat patients with schizophrenia and related  disorders in Japan and several other Asian countries.

Under the terms of the deal, Acadia is eligible to receive up to $25.0  million in aggregate payments, including upfront fees and development  and regulatory milestones, as well as royalties on product sales in  Asian territories, where Meiji Seika has exclusive rights to the drug,  if the product is commercialized successfully.

The collaboration is based on a novel class of compounds that combine  muscarinic m1 agonism with dopamine and serotonin receptor antagonism.  These have demonstrated a unique combination of pro-cognitive and  antipsychotic activity in preclinical behavioral models. The companies  plan to initiate Investigational New Drug application-enabling studies  and co-develop a product candidate through completion of  proof-of-concept clinical studies.