Synosia seals second deal with Roche

Partnership

Synosia Therapeutics has entered into a second agreement with Roche, adding a further compound to its clinical pipeline. Under the deal Synosia gains access to a 5-HT6 antagonist in Phase I development for the treatment of cognitive disorders.  This expands and builds on the original agreement with Roche, announced in 2007, to develop multiple compounds targeting disorders of the central nervous system.

Ian Massey, Chief Executive Officer and President of Synosia, said, “Our strategy of undertaking innovative, proof-of-mechanism clinical trials to explore the full potential of these molecules is working well and we expect to see data later this year.”

“We are particularly pleased to gain access to an additional 5-HT6 antagonist, which has the potential to be a best-in-class molecule for a target with substantial preclinical and clinical validation.”

5-HT6 receptors are expressed exclusively in the brain and in regions associated with memory function.

In addition to the Roche partnership, Synosia also has agreements with Novartis and Syngenta, with compounds in late-stage phase I and phase II development.

Under the terms of the original agreement with Roche, Synosia assumed responsibility for the clinical development of five central nervous system diseases treatments. This second agreement extends the partnership to include a second 5-HT6 antagonist and also revises the terms of the original agreement to give Synosia full development and commercialisation rights to all programmes. Roche retains opt-in rights to the 5-HT6 programme only.