Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany,
today announced that an exclusive development and licensing agreement with
Domain Therapeutics, Strasbourg, France, was signed to develop metabotropic
glutamate receptor 4 (mGluR4) Positive Allosteric Modulator (PAM) drugs
targeting Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Domain Therapeutics will contribute optimized compounds that
have been developed from their proprietary chemical series. Under the terms of
the agreement, the company will receive EUR 2 million in upfront payment and
research funding, and is eligible for up to EUR 132 million in milestones for
the first two products, as well as undisclosed royalties.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with
Domain Therapeutics, which has developed great expertise in the G-Protein
Coupled Receptor area,” said Bernhard Kirschbaum, Executive Vice President
for Global Research and Development at Merck Serono. “This partnership
with Domain Therapeutics reflects our long-term commitment to develop new
treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.”

“This agreement is a validation of Domain Therapeutics’
business model of addressing difficult GPCRs and partnering compounds, with a
significant deal, at an early stage of development,” said Pascal Neuville,
CEO, Domain Therapeutics. “Merck Serono is known to set very high
standards for the compounds they are licensing and this deal is a demonstration
of the quality of our work. We anticipate that this agreement will enable us to
sign further deals of this kind.”

mGluR4 is a glutamate receptor, member of the G-Protein
Coupled Receptor (GPCR) family and is believed to be a potential therapeutic
target for Parkinson’s disease. Allosteric modulation of mGluR4 receptors is
thought to exert regulatory activity on glutamate-mediated neurotransmission.