A drug to treat major depression that was created and patented by a team of University of South Florida researchers is poised to bring millions of dollars in royalties to the university. London-based AstraZeneca plc and Targacept, Inc., of Winston-Salem, NC, have entered a collaboration and license agreement for the global development and commercialization of the drug, TC-5214, as it enters final stages of testing. TC-5214 was licensed to Targacept by the USF Research Foundation, which will be paid a portion of the royalties as the drug moves to market. Although financial details of the agreement with Targacept are confidential, Valerie McDevitt, USF’s assistant vice president for research, says the drug would be USF’s most lucrative patent to date, generating revenue “in the range of millions of dollars.”
Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will make an up-front payment of $200 million to Targacept when the drug’s effectiveness is demonstrated. Additional payments of up to $540 million would be made upon completion of specified development, regulatory, and first commercial sale milestones. Targacept also would be eligible to receive up to $500 million if specified sales-related milestones are achieved. As the patent holder, USF will receive a cut of the funds at each stage of development.
TC-5214 is the invention of USF researchers Paul Sanberg, PhD, distinguished university professor and director of the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, and Douglas Shytle, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine; retired USF psychiatry professor Archie Silver; and former student Mary Newman, PhD, now a research scientist and associate professor at Rush University Medical Center. While searching for an effective treatment for children with Tourette syndrome, the researchers discovered a nearly forgotten blood pressure medicine that helped children whose Tourette syndrome also included depression. Eventually, they created a unique version of the medicine, which was patented in the U.S. and abroad.
Sources: Tampa Bay Business Journal and St. Petersburg Times