AbbVie expands collaboration with Gedeon Richter on neuropsychiatric diseases

US pharma major AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) has again linked up with Hungary’s largest drugmaker Gedeon Richter (RICHT: HB) in a new co-development and license agreement to research, develop and commercialize novel dopamine receptor modulators for the potential treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases.

The collaboration is based on the results of pre-clinical research carried out by Richter and includes several new chemical entities selected for development. AbbVie and Richter have collaborated for 15 years on central nervous system (CNS) projects, including globally launched products such as cariprazine, marketed under the trade names Vraylar and Reagila for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disease.

The decision to extend the collaboration comes shortly after Vraylar was submitted for US approval as an add-on therapy for major depressive disorder (MDD), part of a plan to build sales of the drug to a peak of $4 billion or more. Vraylar, which generated sales of $1.7 billion last year, was first licensed to Allergan, which AbbVie bought two years ago for $63 billion.