Athenagen, Zapaq to merge

Athenagen (South San Francisco, Calif.) plans to merge with Zapaq (Waltham, Mass.) to form a company focused on Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurology indications. Zapaq has two beta secretase inhibitors in preclinical development for AD and both compounds are expected to start Phase I testing early next year. Athenagen's two lead candidates are GTS-21 (DMXBA), an oral nicotinic acetylcholine alpha-7 receptor agonist that will begin Phase II testing next year to treat schizophrenia and cognitive impairment in AD patients, and ATG003, an eye drop formulation of generic mecamylamine that will begin Phase I testing this year to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). ...