Otsuka and Lundbeck agree Alzheimer’s drug collaboration

Otsuka is to receive co-development and co-commercialisation rights to a promising new Alzheimer's disease therapy from Lundbeck.

The new alliance between the two pharmaceutical companies covers the US, Canada, major European and Nordic countries and East Asia – including Japan – and pertains to the selective 5HT6 receptor antagonist known as Lu AE58054.

Lundbeck reported positive data from a placebo-controlled 24-week phase II clinical study of the drug last year and will be assessing its performance compared to donepezil in a phase III trial set to commence later in 2013.

This is the first of three projects involving the co-development and promotion of Lundbeck drug candidates to be covered by the new collaboration.

Taro Iwamoto, president and representative director of Otsuka Pharmaceutical, said: "Not only does the product further enhance the synergy between the companies … Lu AE58054 is a potentially promising development in a very difficult disease area."

Otsuka also announced last month that it will be looking to expand the availability of the schizophrenia therapy Abilify together with Lundbeck in the coming months.