Allergan has exercised its option to acquire drug candidate AGN-241751, an oral small-molecule N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor modulator from partner Aptinyx. Aptinyx discovered AGN-241751 using its chemistry platform and the compound was selected for further development by Allergan under the companies’ ongoing research collaboration.

Allergan was granted option rights to a limited number of small molecules from the Aptinyx discovery platform in conjunction with its 2015 acquisition of Naurex, from which Aptinyx and its platform were spun out. Through that transaction, Allergan also acquired rapastinel, an intravenously administered NMDA receptor modulating tetrapeptide. Subsequently, rapastinel received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. FDA and Allergan is currently evaluating the compound in Phase III studies in major depressive disorder (MDD).

“Through our productive research collaboration with Aptinyx and parallel development of rapastinel, we have gained important insights into NMDA receptor modulation as a potential therapeutic approach for depression,” said C. David Nicholson, Ph.D., chief R&D officer at Allergan. “We plan to advance AGN-241751 for the treatment of MDD and believe its pharmacological profile will enable it to become an oral complement to rapastinel, further bolstering our pipeline of therapeutics addressing areas of significant unmet medical need.”

“Our research collaboration with Allergan has been fruitful for both parties and we are pleased our collaboration partner has elected to option and continue clinical development of AGN-241751 to augment its CNS portfolio,” said Norbert Riedel, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Aptinyx. “The exercise of this option underscores the therapeutic potential of molecules generated from our discovery platform, which modulate NMDA receptors in a novel and differentiated way and may significantly improve the lives of patients suffering from various neurologic disorders.”

Aptinyx and Allergan entered into their research collaboration to discover and characterize novel small-molecule NMDA receptor modulators using Aptinyx’s proprietary chemistry platform. Allergan funds a portion of the collaboration costs and receives options to acquire a defined number of compounds for development and commercialization within a limited field of indications.