Aventis and Dainippon Pharmaceuticals sign licensing deal

Aventis, based in Strasbourg, France, has entered into an agreement with Japanese company Dainippon Pharmaceuticals to license its novel antidementia agent AC-3933, currently under development in Europe by Dainippon.

Under the agreement, Aventis receives exclusive worldwide development and marketing rights (excluding Japan), with option rights for China, Taiwan and South Korea. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

AC-3933 is a potential cognitive enhancer with a novel mechanism of action. It is believed that decreased cholinergic activity may be partially responsible for the cognitive decline that is usually observed in Alzheimer's patients. AC-3933 acts as a partial inverse agonist at the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex, enhancing cholinergic function. Because of these properties, it is anticipated that AC-3933 will demonstrate better efficacy for improving memory deficit than currently marketed treatments.

With phase I studies of AC-3933 complete, Dainip-pon plans to initiate a phase IIa proof-of-concept clinical study in Europe this autumn, which will focus on Alzheimer's-related dementia. Afterwards, Aventis has rights to the subsequent development of AC-3933 in Aventis's licensed territories. Dainippon is also preparing to conduct a phase I study in Japan.

Dainippon and Aventis believe that AC-3933 has the potential to become a key product for both companies in the global market, and that the collaboration will significantly speed AC-3933's global development and introduction as a new generation antidementia agent.