Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Forest Laboratories deal
Forest and Adamas partnered to develop and commercialize Adamas' Arimenda ( ADS-8704) in the U.S. to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. The product is a once-daily, fixed-dose combination of extended-release memantine and donepezil. Adamas will receive $65 million up front and is eligible for up to $95 million in milestones, plus royalties beginning five years after the launch of the fixed-dose combination. The partners will collaborate on development, but Forest is responsible for all development and will have exclusive, U.S. commercialization rights. Arimenda has completed Phase II testing for AD, with an NDA submission slated for 2014 and a U.S. launch expected in 2015.
In the U.S. Forest markets Namenda, a twice-daily formulation of memantine. Forest said over 60% of patients take Namenda with compounds like generic donepezil, so there is a "substantial market opportunity" for a fixed-dose combination of the products. Forest has U.S. rights to market memantine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, from Merz GmbH & Co. KGaA (Frankfurt, Germany). Donepezil is a reversible acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor. ...