Indivior joins with Addex to support addiction treatments

Indivior is joining up with Switzerland's Addex Pharma to support the development of treatments for drug addiction that target neurotramsitter systems.

The FTSE 250 specialist in addiction treatments will pay Addex $5m (£3.7m) upfront and will invest in research funding over the next two years to develop additional compounds that modulate the GABA B receptor pathway.

Long-term drug use depresses the normal function of the GABA B receptor, increasing dependency and possibly making withdrawal more difficult. The compounds have had positive preclinical results in animals for alcohol use disorder and cocaine use disorder.

The collaboration includes an exclusive global licence to ADX71441, a small, oral molecule that is expected to enter phase-one trials in 2018. Potential milestone payments to Addex could reach $330m over time if all development, regulatory and sales goals are achieved.

Shaun Thaxter, chief executive of Indivior, said the treatments were particularly promising for their potential to help alcohol and cocaine addicts and that there was potential to broaden their scope.

Thaxter said: "Among the key priorities we are pursuing is continuing to review and invest in promising new treatments for this chronic and relapsing disease. we are excited about this new strategic collaboration with Addex to discover additional compounds targeting the GABA B receptor pathway, which will complement the current pipeline efforts we have underway to develop novel treatments for addiction."