Naurex, a US-based developer of treatments for central nervous system disorders, agreed on Sunday to be acquired by pharmaceutical company Allergan in a $560m deal in which four pharmaceutical firms will exit.
Allergan will pay $460m in cash up front and the remaining $100m by January 2016, with additional payments tied to sales and research-based milestones.
Founded in 2006, Naurex has developed a platform to create drugs that strengthen the body’s network for neural cell communication, enabling it to treat psychiatric and neurologic disorders.
Naurex will spun out its drug platform into a new company before the deal is fully closed, and the new company will collaborate with Allergan on small molecule N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor modulators.
Naurex had raised about $160m, $80m of which came from a December 2014 series C round featuring Takeda Ventures and Baxter Ventures, the respective corporate venturing units of Takeda and Baxter, and another pharmaceutical company, Lundbeck.
Cowen Investments, EcoR1 Capital, Goudy Park Capital, Portola Capital Partners, Sabby Capital, Adams Street Partners, Druid BioVentures, Genesys Capital, Latterell Venture Partners, Northwestern University, PathoCapital and Savitr Capital also invested in the series C round.
Denmark-based Lundbeck and Japan-based Takeda initially invested in Naurex’s $18m series A round in 2011 alongside Ireland-based pharmaceutical company Shire. Lundbeck, Takeda, Shire and Baxter all participated in Naurex’s $38m series B round in 2012.