BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Astellas, CoMentis end AD collaboration

October 18, 2014 2:34 AM UTC

Astellas Pharma Inc. (Tokyo:4503) and CoMentis Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.) terminated a 2008 deal to develop and commercialize beta-secretase ( BACE1) inhibitors to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD). Astellas, which paid $80 million up front to license rights to the program and paid $20 million for an equity stake in CoMentis, returned all rights to the candidates covered under the deal.

CoMentis General Counsel and VP of Alliance Management Daniel Hunt told BioCentury the program did not achieve any development milestones during the collaboration and declined to disclose which stage of development the program had reached. Astellas did not reply to inquiries. ...