Mind melding

Novartis AG's third neuroscience deal of the summer checks two boxes for the pharma by sharing the risk for a BACE inhibitor program and adding another late-stage program in neurology, all without increasing the pharma's neurology R&D spend. It also completes the company's quest to set itself up with a steady stream of neurology launches over the next four years.

On Sept. 1, Novartis and Amgen Inc. agreed to combine portfolios of beta-site APP-cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease with Novartis' CNP520 as lead molecule. Novartis also will receive global co-development rights and commercial rights outside of the U.S., Canada and Japan to two Amgen migraine compounds. The lead is AMG 334, a human mAb inhibiting the receptor for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) that is in Phase III testing to prevent migraine...