Biopharmaceutical company, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc has entered  Captisol license agreement with SAGE Therapeutics, Inc., a central nervous system (CNS) product focused company, for the development and commercialization of Captisol-enabled therapeutics for a broad range of debilitating central nervous system (CNS) conditions.

Under the agreement, Ligand will receive upfront and research support payments, as well as potential milestone payments for Captisol-enabled programs. In addition to potentially receiving royalties on net sales for products that use the Captisol technology, Ligand will receive revenue from the sale of Captisol to Sage for clinical and commercial activities.

While the treatment of CNS diseases has long been viewed as a challenging and largely underserved space in drug development, SAGE Therapeutics' proprietary Positive and Negative Allosteric Modulator (PANAM) chemistry platform combined with Ligand's Captisol technology may enable the rapid development of allosteric receptor modulators that target these critical pathways to fine tune and balance the neuronal activity that is disrupted in CNS disorders. Studies have shown that Ligand's Captisol technology is particularly adept at solubilizing this class of molecules and opens up the potential for the Captisol-enabled treatment of various CNS conditions.

“This is an exciting and significant new platform deal for Ligand, continuing the expansion of our growing portfolio of partnered assets,” said John Higgins, president and chief executive officer of Ligand Pharmaceuticals. “We believe SAGE will be an excellent partner for this robust platform opportunity in CNS. SAGE has assembled strong financial backing from Third Rock Ventures and a management team with world-class CNS expertise. We look forward to working with SAGE to advance these programs quickly into development.”

Kevin Starr, partner at Third Rock Ventures and interim CEO of SAGE Therapeutics, stated “We are pleased to partner with Ligand as we build SAGE Therapeutics and advance our pipeline of CNS therapeutics. Accessing Captisol is a prime example of an early collaboration that will help accelerate the clinical development and commercialization of our broad pipeline of allosteric receptor modulators to treat debilitating CNS conditions such as schizophrenia, depression and traumatic brain injury.”

Captisol is a patent protected, chemically modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize the solubility and stability of drugs. Captisol was invented and initially developed by scientists at the University of Kansas' Higuchi Biosciences Centre for specific use in drug development and formulation. This unique technology has enabled five US FDA-approved products, including Pfizer's VFEND IV and Baxter Internationals' Nexterone. There are currently more than 25 Captisol-enabled products in development, including Onyx Pharmaceuticals' carfilzomib programme and proprietary programmes at Merck and GlaxoSmithKline.

SAGE Therapeutics is a central nervous system (CNS) product focused company building a portfolio of new therapies to meet the growing unmet need in a range of CNS disorders, including schizophrenia, depression, pain, and traumatic brain injury.

Ligand is a biopharmaceutical company with a business model that is based upon the concept of developing or acquiring royalty revenue generating assets and coupling them to a lean corporate cost structure.