Amarin Development of Sweden has won a new contract to apply its formulation and manufacturing services to a neurological drug candidate developed by Acadia Pharmaceuticals, a company based in San Diego, USA, and Copenhagen, Denmark.
The deal centres on the continued development of Acadia's small molecule drug candidate ACP-103, currently in Phase I clinical studies for the treatment of neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders.
Amarin specialises in the development of advanced oral controlled release and site-specific drug delivery solutions, and covers both formulation feasibility studies and commercial scale-up. Rick Stewart, the firm's chief executive, commented on the successful deal; "The selection of Amarin Development by ACADIA said that the new deal complements the R&D activities of Amarin Pharmaceuticals in the USA, "making this a particularly attractive signing."
ACP-103 is a proprietary small molecule that acts as a selective inverse agonist at the 5-HT2A receptor. It is initially being pursuing as a therapy for treatment-induced dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease, an indication that lacks adequate drug therapy. Due to its unique profile, ACP-103 may also have broad utility in a range of other important indications, according to Amarin.