Pfizer has entered into an agreement to acquire Rinat Neuroscience Corp., a privately held biotechnology company that is developing therapeutic proteins for the treatment of diseases and disorders of the central nervous system. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-year 2006.

“Rinat is a pioneer in developing protein-based therapeutics and we see tremendous potential in its research to develop new medicines, notably for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease,” said John LaMattina, president, global R&D for Pfizer.

“We are proud of the drug discovery and development progress we have made in the last four years. Further, we are very pleased that Pfizer, the largest pharmaceutical company and a leader in neuroscience, has recognized the potential of our programs to treat significant unmet medical needs,” said Ron Eastman, chief executive officer of Rinat.

Rinat, which is developing novel approaches to neuroscience-based protein therapeutics, was founded in 2001 when Genentech granted Rinat broad licenses to its key neuroscience assets. The most advanced new drug candidate in Rinat’s pipeline is RN624, a potential new treatment for acute and chronic pain that is currently entering Phase II trials. RN624 inhibits nerve growth factor (NGF), which may play a role in reducing chronic pain without side effects common in similar therapies.

Rinat is also developing RN1219 for the potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. RN1219, a humanized monoclonal antibody, has been shown to reduce amyloid plaque in preclinical studies. The buildup of amyloid deposits in the brain contributes to the progressive death of nerve cells that occurs in Alzheimer’s patients. Rinat has additional compounds in late preclinical development for migraine prophylaxis and cachexia as well as discovery programs in obesity, pain, neuropathy and Parkinson’s disease.