Salt Lake-based NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. has formed a collaborative effort with AstraZeneca to discover, develop and market new small-molecule therapies for the treatment of various disorders of the central nervous system.
NPS will license to AstraZeneca its proprietary technology related to protein structures known as metabotropic glutamate receptors and molecules that act at those receptors.
The companies will collaborate during a five-year research period to expand NPS technology with the goal of marketing drugs that could treat a variety of neurological and psychiatric conditions. The agreement also includes various provisions for co-promoting or receiving royalties on the sale of resulting products.