Novartis, Amgen team on migraine, Alzheimer’s drug development

BASEL, Switzerland — Novartis and Amgen are joining forces to develop and commercialize neuroscience treatments in both their pipelines the companies announced Tuesday. The collaboration will see them working on a BACE inhibitor program to treat Alzheimer’s disease and developing Amgen’s migraine drugs.

"This Novartis collaboration with Amgen highlights our clear commitment to neuroscience and to bring multiple, new targeted therapies to patients living with Alzheimer's disease and migraine, where the unmet medical need remains high." Novartis Pharmaceuticals head David Epstein said.

The Amgen partnership comes on the heels of Novartis’ recent acquisition of Spinifex Phamceuticals, which added a compound for neuropathic pain to the company’s portfolio, and its agreement to acquire multiple sclerosis treatment Ofatumumab from GlaxoSmithKline.