Biogen reinforces bet on Alzheimer's, buying in Pfizer CNS candidate

13 January 2020

After US biotech major Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) scrapped development of its experimental Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab in March last year, but resuming development in October, the company has now announced an agreement to acquire an early-stage central nervous system (CNS) candidate from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)

PF-05251749, a novel CNS-penetrant small molecule inhibitor of casein kinase 1 (CK1), for the potential treatment of patients with behavioral and neurological symptoms across various psychiatric and neurological diseases. In particular, Biogen plans to develop the Phase I asset for the treatment of Sundowning in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Irregular Sleep Wake Rhythm Disorder (ISWRD) in Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Biogen’s shares were down 1.64% at $292.65 in early trading today, while Pfizer saw a tiny dip of 0.28% on the news.

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