Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc has regained worldwide rights to develop and commercialize its Ampakine compounds for the treatment of schizophrenia and depression.

In January 1999, Cortex entered into a research collaboration and exclusive worldwide license agreement with Organon which granted Organon exclusive, worldwide rights to develop and commercialize Ampakine compounds for the treatment of schizophrenia and depression. Organon is now a subsidiary of Merck. As part of an ongoing prioritization process, Merck has decided not to proceed further with its Ampakine development programme, and has returned its exclusive rights to develop Ampakine compounds for the treatment of depression and schizophrenia to Cortex.

“The return of these rights to Cortex now allows us to develop our lead Ampakine compounds for these serious psychiatric disorders,” said Mark Varney, president and chief executive officer of Cortex. “Data from animal models suggests AMPAKINE compounds could treat the cognitive deficits that occur in as much as 75 per cent of individuals with schizophrenia. In addition, recent animal work suggests Ampakine compounds like CX1739 could be effective therapies for depression, and could potentially provide a much more rapid onset of antidepressant activity and represent a completely new mechanism of treating this disorder.”

Cortex, located in Irvine, California, is a neuroscience company focused on novel drug therapies for treating psychiatric disorders, neurological diseases and sleep apnea.