Eli Lilly and Co. plans to buy Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc for $6.3 billion in up-front cash and another potential $1.5 billion through contingent value rights, gaining access to a pipeline of orexin receptor 2 agonists for sleep disorders. The Indianapolis-based pharma is re-entering a field that has multibillion-dollar potential and one that could emulate the success seen with its obesity program. Centessa, of Boston and London, has a lead candidate, cleminorexton (formerly ORX-750), with positive phase IIa data in narcolepsy types 1 and 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia.
Synendos Therapeutics AG has delivered initial clinical data demonstrating the potential of its lead compound to selectively modulate the endocannabinoid system in the brain and to relieve anxiety symptoms without triggering a psychoactive response.
Researchers from Maplight Therapeutics Inc. presented preclinical data for the investigational muscarinic M1/M4 receptor agonist ML-007, being evaluated for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The activity of ML-007 was compared to that of another muscarinic M1/M4 agonist, xanomeline.
The potential of psychedelic substances such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin in treating various neuropsychiatric disorders has received increased attention in recent times. These compounds are believed to exert their effects through the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor.
Nxera Pharma Co. Ltd. announced that its partner, Neurocrine Biosciences Inc., is advancing NBI-1117568 to phase II trials for treatment of schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Researchers from Delix Therapeutics Inc. recently presented preclinical pharmacology data for DLX-001, a novel orally bioavailable, nonhallucinogenic neuroplastogen being developed for the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases.
PGI Drug Discovery LLC, the drug discovery arm of Psychogenics Inc., has entered into an exclusive license agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. to obtain global development, manufacturing and commercialization rights to RO-7117997. Psychogenics intends to evaluate RO-7117997 as a potential treatment for several psychiatric and neurological conditions.
Rapport Therapeutics Inc. raised $150 million in a series B round, less than six months after unveiling its $100 million series A investment. It’s further evidence that its distinctive precision neuromedicine approach has gained traction with some deep-pocketed investors and adds further momentum both to its clinical development and its discovery research efforts.
The 16p11.2 duplication is a copy number variant that has been previously identified to confer risk for diverse neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, intellectual disability and epilepsy. Researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine aimed to assess disease networks associated with this broad phenotypic spectrum.
Circuit dysfunction is clearly recognized as a driver of neuropsychiatric disease, and some neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. And at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) 2022 Congress, researchers made an argument that the same is true in multiple sclerosis (MS). Such a lens could explain the radiological-clinical paradox between the amount of structural damage and clinical severity.
