Neurocrine deal

Neurocrine (San Diego) will collaborate with Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. division to develop small molecule drugs for psychiatric disorders including anxiety, depression and substance abuse.

The collaboration will develop compounds that act as antagonists at the corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) receptor. High levels of CRF are associated with psychiatric disorders, the company said. Neurocrine has cloned and characterized several human CRF receptors and developed high throughput screens to identify multiple lead compounds. ...