Lundbeck has announced plans to buy Prexton Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to 905 million euros.
The move gives the Danish drugmaker access to Prexton’s foliglurax, a first-in-class, experimental Parkinson’s disease therapy currently in Phase II development.
First data from the ongoing clinical Phase II programme – which is testing the drug for the symptomatic treatment of OFF-time reduction in Parkinson’s disease and dyskinesia (uncontrolled movements) including Levodopa Induced Dyskinesia (LID) – is expected to be available in mid-2019.
The agreement will see Lundbeck will pay 100 million euros to Prexton plus 805 million euros in development and sales milestones.
Prexton was founded in 2012 by Francois Conquet and M Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Merck KGaA. The biopharma applies a new scientific approach that fully integrates molecular, behavioral and chemistry technologies to address Parkinson’s disease and other brain disorders.
Around 6 million people around the globe suffer from Parkinson’s disease, and there remains a large unmet need for effective treatments that enable patients to sustain the utility of dopaminergic therapies, Lundbeck noted, explaining its interest in the deal.