Argenta Discovery Ltd has entered into a comprehensive, multi-year collaboration with Corcept Therapeutics (Palo Alto, CA) for the discovery and optimization of a second generation drug candidate within one of Corcept's psychiatric disorder programmes. Financial details were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the collaboration, Argenta and Corcept scientists will work closely together in an interdisciplinary team to fully exploit the integration of biology and chemistry.

Commenting on the agreement, Dr Joseph Belanoff, CEO and co-founder of Corcept, said, "We are thrilled to begin our collaboration with Argenta. Argenta is an absolutely first-rate drug discovery house and with their help we look forward to finding compounds that will ultimately improve the lives of patients suffering from severe psychiatric illnesses."

Dr Anthony Baxter, Chief Executive Officer of Argenta, added, "We are very pleased to announce this alliance with Corcept, a further US deal for Argenta which illustrates the global attraction of our contract services. This collaboration enables Argenta to deploy its full armoury of capabilities in chemistry, screening and eADME in an integrated approach to lead discovery and optimisation. We believe this agreement also highlights the value companies are increasingly placing on genuine industry experience in both management and scientists when choosing a partner in drug discovery."