ITI and Takeda to develop schizophrenia compounds

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company of Japan has entered into an exclusive collaboration with US-based Intra-Cellular Therapies (ITI) to develop and market selective phosphodiesterase type 1 (PDE1) inhibitors for the treatment of schizophrenia.

The agreement is targeted worldwide, but ITI has retained the option to co-promote with Takeda in the US.

ITI's PDE1 inhibitors are orally available, preclinical stage compounds with the potential to become treatments for a variety of psychiatric and neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s, ADHD and Parkinson’s.

Under the terms of the agreement, ITI will receive an upfront cash sum and will be eligible for payments of around US$500m on certain development milestones and up to $200m in sales-based milestones, along with tiered royalty payments based on net sales by Takeda. Takeda will be solely responsible for development, manufacturing and commercialisation of the PDE1 inhibitors.

‘This programme represents a unique approach to the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS) and other disorders,’ said Sharon Mates, chairman and ceo of Intra-Cellular Therapies.

‘We are able to enhance our central nervous system pipeline, one of our core therapeutic areas, through this collaboration,’ said Shigenori Ohkawa, executive vp and chief scientific officer of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company.

‘We believe that ITI's PDE1 inhibitors have the potential to be a novel drug with a new mechanism of action which will satisfy unmet medical needs for the millions of patients suffering from schizophrenia.’