SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals has entered a worldwide licensing and collaboration agreement with Novartis to advance its amyloid beta-targeted antibody programme for Alzheimer’s disease.
The programme has identified de novo antibody candidates that incorporate what SciNeuro describes as its proprietary blood-brain barrier shuttle technology, designed to help drugs cross the protective barrier around the brain, and which it says offer potential differentiation from existing amyloid beta targeted agents.
Amyloid beta is a protein that forms plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
SciNeuro and Novartis will collaborate during early development. Novartis will lead all subsequent product development and commercialisation on a worldwide basis.
Min Li, founder and chief executive of SciNeuro, said: “The anti-amyloid programme represents one of SciNeuro’s key strategic R&D priorities to target neurodegenerative disease.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Novartis to continue its development, given their preeminent capabilities and commitment to next generation therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.
“This collaboration delivers an optimal synergy, combining our expertise in disease biology and early development with Novartis’ global leadership in clinical development and commercialisation.”
Under the terms of the agreement, SciNeuro will receive an upfront payment of US$165m. In addition, SciNeuro is eligible to receive research funding and potentially up to US$1.5bn in development, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalties.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and other customary conditions.
Robert Balohis global head of neuroscience, biomedical research at Novartis.
He said: “There is a pressing need for new and differentiated therapeutics to help alleviate suffering in devastating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
“We are happy to be collaborating with SciNeuro, an organisation which has proprietary technology aiming to safely and effectively target amyloid beta and which shares our sense of urgency and commitment to this disease area.”
SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.
Since its founding in 2020, the company says it has built a portfolio of pipeline programmes staged from discovery to clinical development by addressing three key disease-driving mechanisms of neurodegeneration: neurovascular inflammation, proteinopathy (diseases caused by abnormal protein buildup) and immune response.
The company aims to develop disease-modifying treatment options for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other central nervous system diseases.
