Cogstate licences angiotensin compounds for Alzheimers

Recently listed company CogState (ASX: CGS) has signed a licensing and research collaboration deal with Pacific Northwest Biotechnology (PNB) in the US to develop a drug to treat Alzheimer's disease.

The deal gives CogState a worldwide exclusive licence to IP covering central nervous system activity for a library of compounds active at the angiotensin-4 receptor (AT4). The company is already evaluating small molecule drugs active against AT4, through in-licensing of a drug development program from a major Japanese pharma company.

"With both deals under our belt, we have now established at CogState a major effort to determine if a drug active at the AT4 receptor can be found which might treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease," said CogState CEO Dr Peter Bick.

The agreement also calls for PNB to conduct early stage research on the compounds for CogState, which will own rights to any IP developed during the research collaboration.

Through the partnership the company will also gain access to Prof Jay Wright and Prof Joe Harding, who discovered the AT4 receptor and have become world leaders in AT4 research. Wright and Harding, Bick said, would bring a wealth of knowledge on the structure-activity relationships of compounds active against AT4.

"Not only do we have a group that knows what to do, it's their life work, so it's not just a research contract to them," he said.