GSK has penned another neuroscience pact, this time with Danish biotech Muna Therapeutics. The two companies will examine postmortem human brains in efforts to identify several new drug targets for Alzheimer’s disease.
The British Pharma is doling out 33.5 million euros ($35.3 million) in cash, with Muna also able to make up to 140 million euros ($147.5 million) per target in milestone payments, plus royalties, according to a Dec. 5 release. The specific number of targets included in the research pact were not publicly disclosed.
Together, the biotech and pharma will examine postmortem human brain samples to identify and validate new Alzheimer’s targets.
The new GSK pact centers around Muna’s MiND-MAP, a data approach designed to narrow in on the mechanisms underlying resilience to disease pathology. The platform applies spatial transcriptomics to brain samples from patients with Alzheimer’s, cognitively resilient individuals, healthy controls and centenarians with and without cognitive impairment, according to the biotech.
After targets are identified, GSK will take on responsibility for preclinical, clinical, manufacturing and commercialization activities.
It’s the second neuroscience deal GSK has inked within the last few weeks, following a November pact with Flagship-founded Vesalius Therapeutics that includes a preclinical small molecule initially targeting Parkinson’s disease.
Beyond neuroscience, GSK has had a busy week, penning a deal with Rgenta Therapeutics to develop RNA-targeting small molecules and entering an agreement with Duality Biologics for certain rights to a preclinical antibody-drug conjugate.