Biogen Makes Another Alzheimer's Bet, Paying Pfizer $75M for Early-Phase Drug

Fierce Biotech is reporting that Biogen has placed another wager on Alzheimer's disease research and development, paying Pfizer $75 million upfront for an early-phase prospect. The candidate, known as PF-05251749, came through tests in healthy volunteers at Pfizer prior to getting derailed by the Big Pharma's retreat from neuroscience R&D two years ago. The CK1 inhibitor moved into the clinic having proved it can cross the blood-brain barrier and regulate circadian rhythms, thereby improving both behavioral and neurological symptoms in Alzheimer's patients and those with other diseases. Biogen executives think the data generated to date supports further development. In addition to the $75 million upfront payment, Biogen is committing up to $635 million in development and commercialization milestones to add the drug to its pipeline.