Tobacco giant Reynolds spins off Alzheimer's drug R&D co

25 August 2000 04:04  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (CNI)--RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co of the US has spun off Targacept Inc, a company specialising in R&D of drugs to treat Alzheimer and Parkinson's disease, CNI was informed Friday.

Targacept, founded by Reynolds in 1997, is now an independent company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Reynolds owns 43% of its equity. A consortium led by EuclidSR Partners, an investment venture fund focused on healthcare and information technology, holds the rest, Reynolds said in a statement.

As an independent company, Targacept will continue to design and develop new compounds that can interact with certain receptors in the human nervous system to treat major disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, pain and ulcerative colitis, as well as Tourette's Syndrome, attention deficit disorder and schizophrenia, the statement added.

Targacept, under an agreement signed in 1998, has been developing drugs to treat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases for Franco-German life sciences major Aventis.

By: Stefan Baumgarten
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