Allergan and Rugen Therapeutics to jointly support novel therapies Autism Spectrum Disorders

Allergan plc, a company recently bought by Pfizer, and Rugen Therapeutics will jointly support the discovery and development of novel therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Obsessive Compulsive disorders (OCD).

According to Allergan’s announcement from Wednesday, under the terms of the agreement, Rugen received an upfront initiation fee at the outset of the collaboration, and is entitled to development stage initiation and success-based milestone payments for advancing compounds in development.

Allergan will have the exclusive option to acquire all rights, including the worldwide intellectual property rights and other assets, related to the compounds following clinical proof of concept studies.

As part of the collaboration, Allergan and Rugen will jointly focus on the development of novel small molecule drug candidates.

The research collaboration initially includes early stage compounds, which are first-in-class orally active molecules being developed for multiple CNS disorders.

David Nicholson, Executive Vice President, Global Brands Research and Development at Allergan, said: “The compounds we are working to develop with Rugen are in preclinical development, but we are excited by the possibilities that these novel molecules may provide to physicians, patients and caregivers facing these disorders.”