US pharmaceutical company Acorda Therapeutics President and CEO Ron Cohen has announced that the company is “excited” about an agreement with Neuronex, Inc. that will allow Acorda to acquire the company and its diazepam nasal spray program. Acorda has made an upfront payment of $2 million to acquire Neuronex, a North Carolina-based pharmaceutical company, plus $500,000 of a possible $1.2 million to fund preparation of a new drug application for the diazepam nasal spray for the treatment of epilepsy.
Neuronex is preparing the NDA, and Acorda has the option to complete the acquisition of the company and take over the development program after the pre-NDA meeting with the FDA. Completing the acquisition will require an additional $6.8 million payment. Acceptance of the NDA would trigger a $1 million milestone payment to Neuronex and others; regulatory approval would trigger payments of up to $25 million.
The proprietary nasal formulation of diazepam was developed by Korean company SK Holdings’ life sciences division and licensed to Neuronex in 2010. SK retained the Asian rights at the time. The FDA recently cleared the IND for a diazepam nasal spray being developed by Neurelis.
Read the Acorda press release.
