Targacept says its work in nicotine research has triggered payment from pharmaceutical company

By: Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: May 05, 2008

Targacept Inc. said today that it has triggered a $500,000 payment from its partnership with GlaxoSmithKline PLC for a smoking-cessation program.

Targacept, based in Winston-Salem, is developing drugs based on nicotine research that will treat diseases of the central nervous system. The company was spun out from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in 2000.

The company said that the payment came from the designation of a lead compound for the program.

"We are delighted to have successfully leveraged our expertise in neuronal nicotinic receptors to bring forward a novel compound for smoking cessation," said Donald deBethizy, the president and chief executive of Targacept.

According to Targacept, neuronal nicotinic receptors are a class of proteins in the nervous system that modulate the levels of key chemical messengers, such as dopamine. Nicotine's addictive effects have been linked to over-stimulation of dopamine released in brain regions involved in feelings of reward and pleasure.

Targacept said that these compounds "have the potential to decrease the rewarding effects of nicotine and, as a result, the desire to smoke."

"This is an area that is not only a major health-care need but also where application of the neuronal nicotinic receptors mechanism has been validated commercially," deBethizy said. "It is important for a smoking-cessation aid to specifically target the areas of the brain that serve as pathways for addiction, while addressing limitations of currently available products by minimizing unwanted side effects."

Targacept said on July 27 that it was teaming up with GlaxoSmithKline to develop and market drugs to treat five disorders, including postoperative pain.

GlaxoSmithKline is based in the United Kingdom and makes such drugs as Paxil, a treatment for depression, and Flonase, an allergy treatment.

The companies said at that time that the agreement could bring in as much as $1.5 billion to Targacept over the long term, depending on successful drug development and royalties from its five therapies,

Under its agreement with GlaxoSmithKline, Targacept will develop drugs for pain, smoking cessation, obesity, addiction and Parkinson's disease. The company will develop those drugs through Phase 2 clinical trials. GlaxoSmithKline would then have the option to license those drugs, and would be responsible for further development.