Allergan & Rugen Announce Collaboration - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Allergan plc (AGN) and Rugen Therapeutics announced they have entered into an exclusive collaboration to support the discovery and development of therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorders and Obsessive Compulsive disorders.

Funded by the F-Prime Biomedical Research Initiative, Rugen is a biotech company discovering and developing first-in-class small molecule drugs with the potential to address multiple psychiatric indications. Rugen has demonstrated efficacy for its compounds in animal models of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Obsessive Compulsive disorders.

Allergan and Rugen will jointly focus on the development of small molecule drug candidates. The research collaboration initially includes early stage compounds, which are first-in-class orally active molecules being developed for multiple CNS disorders.

Rugen received an upfront initiation fee at the outset of the collaboration, and is entitled to development stage initiation and success-based milestone payments for advancing compounds in development. Allergan will have the exclusive option to acquire all rights, including the worldwide intellectual property rights and other assets, related to the compounds.