Selective Muscarinic Compounds Demonstrate Promising Preclinical Profile
SAN DIEGO, CA and COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, January 8, 2004 - ACADIA Pharmaceuticalsannounced today that it has achieved a milestone in its collaboration agreementwith Allergan (NYSE: AGN) to discover, develop, and commercialize selectivemuscarinic drugs for the treatment of glaucoma. The milestone was triggeredby Allergan's selection of a collaboration compound for further developmentand commercialization.
"We are pleased to successfully achieve this phase of our collaborationwith ACADIA, which has generated an exciting new class of novel and selectivemuscarinic compounds," said Lester J. Kaplan, Ph.D., Allergan's President,Research and Development. "These drug candidates display a promising preclinicalprofile and provide the potential for an important new breakthrough in glaucomatherapy."
The collaborative glaucoma program emanates from ACADIA's discovery of chemicalleads that selectively target the muscarinic receptor responsible for the loweringof intraocular pressure, while avoiding interaction with other targets believedto cause side effects. Under the collaboration, ACADIA has combined its chemistrycapabilities and discovery expertise in the muscarinic area with Allergan'sdisease models and eye care expertise to optimize these lead candidates. Allerganis entitled to select up to two collaboration compounds and is responsible forthe development and commercialization of products resulting from the collaboration.ACADIA received a milestone payment in connection with Allergan's selectionof a collaboration compound and will receive additional milestones as productsmove through the development process. Allergan has worldwide rights to commercializeproducts resulting from the collaboration for the treatment of ocular diseaseand will pay ACADIA royalties on sales of products successfully developed andcommercialized. ACADIA retains the rights to its muscarinic compounds and relatedassets for all other therapeutic areas.
"We are pleased with the exciting progress in our glaucoma collaboration,which has benefited greatly from Allergan's extensive expertise and leadershipin the eye care field," said Uli Hacksell, Ph.D., ACADIA's Chief ExecutiveOfficer. "We are very proud of the success of our first two discovery collaborationswith Allergan, which have led to exciting development programs in the therapeuticareas of chronic pain and glaucoma. We look forward to the further advancementof these drug candidates and to the discovery of additional innovative therapiesunder our third collaboration with Allergan formed earlier this year."
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals is focused on the discovery and development of novelsmall molecule drugs for the treatment of central nervous system and relateddisorders. ACADIA has successfully applied its proprietary drug discovery platformto generate a broad portfolio of drug candidates. ACADIA currently has fiveprograms in development directed at large unmet medical needs and major commercialmarkets, including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, chronic pain, and glaucoma.ACADIA's corporate headquarters and biological research facilities are locatedin San Diego, California and its chemistry research facilities are located inCopenhagen, Denmark.
Certain matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statementsand are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results todiffer materially. However, these forward-looking statements do not fall withinthe meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private SecuritiesLitigation Reform Act of 1995 or Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933.
Contacts:
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals
Uli Hacksell, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Thomas H. Aasen, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
+1 858-558-2871