Actinogen Ltd acquires Edinburgh BioQuarter spin-out to develop treatment for Alzheimer’s dementia

Actinogen Ltd, an Australian biotechnology company, has acquired Edinburgh BioQuarter spin-out, Corticrine Ltd in a deal facilitated and introduced by Professor Alan Boyd of Boyds.

Corticrine Ltd is a mid-stage pharmaceutical R&D company focused on the development of novel treatments for disease modification and prevention in Alzheimer’s dementia. It is a spin-out company from the Edinburgh BioQuarter, the commercialisation arm of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Edinburgh.

Corticrine has licensed worldwide development and commercialisation rights to UE2323 from the University of Edinburgh. UE2343 is in clinical development for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and has already received considerable funding for the Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery Programme.

Professor Alan Boyd had been involved with the team working on this project for a number of years. “When funding started to dry up, we needed to find a way to ensure this invaluable research continues,” commented Professor Boyd. “There are over 18 million people affected globally with Alzheimer’s and that number is growing. The team at Corticrine have made significant steps in the development of cortisol hormone inhibitors and there is a lot of value wrapped up in that IP.”

“I have a long-standing relationship with a team of investors in Australia that have a keen interest in life sciences and the research and development into new and innovative drugs. They were proactively looking for opportunities to get involved in research projects such as this, ” he continues. “By acquiring Corticrine, Actinogen Ltd is now a clinical stage company with an asset that has the potential to become the long-awaited treatment for Alzheimer’s dementia.” 

This acquisition will allow access to significant amounts of capital to advance clinical development of UE2343 and to benefit from the considerable research incentives for novel drugs in Australia.

Bill Blair, Head of Business Creation at Edinburgh BioQuarter, said, “The deal is indicative of the innovative approaches adopted by Edinburgh BioQuarter to commercialise novel IP from the University of Edinburgh’s College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.”