Biotech firm SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals announced on Monday that it has entered into a licensing agreement valued at nearly $1.7 billion with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG to collaboratively develop a potential antibody therapy for treating Alzheimer's disease.
Under the terms of the agreement, SciNeuro will receive an upfront payment of $165 million, with the potential to earn up to an additional $1.5 billion in milestone payments tied to key achievements in drug development, regulatory approvals, and product sales, along with future royalties on product sales.
Through this deal, Novartis will gain access to a core proprietary technology from SciNeuro designed to enhance the efficiency of drug delivery to the brain. SciNeuro stated that this technological approach could differentiate its antibody drug from currently approved therapies—which also work by clearing sticky deposits of a protein called beta-amyloid from patients' brains, a hallmark pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease.
Currently, the development of new Alzheimer's therapies is increasingly shifting towards innovative pathways, with the industry beginning to view this memory-debilitating disease as one caused by the interplay of multiple complex biological pathways. Researchers and pharmaceutical companies are actively exploring novel targets to develop treatments that can slow or even halt the progression of the disease.
Roche recently initiated late-stage clinical trials for its drug trontinemab, which combines a beta-amyloid antibody with a "brain shuttle" designed to help the drug cross the blood-brain barrier.
The two currently approved Alzheimer's treatments—Leqembi, jointly developed by Biogen and Eisai, and Kisunla from Eli Lilly—have experienced low market penetration due to issues such as high cost, questions about efficacy, and side effects.
SciNeuro stated that it will work with Novartis to advance the early-stage development of the therapy, while subsequent clinical trials and global commercialization efforts following potential drug approval will be the sole responsibility of Novartis.
The transaction is expected to be formally completed in the first half of 2026.
Comments