By Mary Welch

NeuroSearch A/S and Abbott Laboratories agreed to work together to discover, develop and commercialize novel compounds for the treatment of a variety of central and peripheral nervous system disorders in a deal that will net NeuroSearch up to $17 million for each successfully developed compound.

"This is our biggest deal in the preclinical stage," said Jorgen Buus Lassen, NeuroSearch's president and CEO. "Abbott contacted us in July or August and there is good synergy. One aspect of this deal is that we get the milestones regardless of whether we or Abbott come up with the compounds. It makes no difference."

The agreement gives Abbott exclusive worldwide sales rights to those compounds. Abbott, based in Abbott Park, Ill., will finance all research and development. NeuroSearch, of Glostrup, Denmark, also will be entitled to receive royalties on sales of compounds.

The three-year collaboration will combine NeuroSearch's drug discovery platform on a specific family of ion channels with Abbott's neuroscience drug discovery and research.

"It's kind of pioneering work," Lassen said. "We don't want to give out any more details."

Ion channels are proteins in the cell membrane and a typical cell has between 100 and 1000 ion channels of different types. Each ion channel is highly selective for a single ion species or group of ions. The electrical activity of nerve, muscle and of most other cells is governed by the opening and closing of ion channels, which also mediate the effects of many of the signal molecules in the brain.

"Ion channels are very efficient drug targets and are well defined," Lassen said. "The chemistry is different."

The company possesses a number of cloned ion channels expressed stably in cell lines as well as primary functional high-throughput screens and secondary screening technology. For this collaboration, it will use its proprietary NeuroPatch, which is a fully automated patch-clamp apparatus, he said. NeuroPatch can screen on ion channels where primary high-throughput screens cannot be used.

"We will use our own NeuroPatch, which has a high capacity to screen and then we will transfer the technology over to Abbott so they can screen as well," he said.

The companies hope to select the first substance in the middle of this year and expect to have it in the clinic in the first half of next year, Lassen said.

"We are looking at three different indications right now, and possibly a fourth," he said.