Icagen, Inc. announced that it has received a milestone payment from Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. related to the selection of a compound for advanced preclinical studies as a result of the collaboration between the two companies in dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

"A variety of ion channel targets are expressed in the critical regions of the central nervous system associated with the formation and retention of memories," said Doug Krafte, Ph.D., Vice President, Biology of Icagen. "We are pleased that in our collaboration with Yamanouchi, which is focused on one particular ion channel target, we have had the opportunity to leverage our ion channel technology platform to identify a potentially novel approach to the treatment of these disorders."

The Icagen/Yamanouchi collaboration in dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, which began in 2000, provided for an initial upfront payment, research funding and milestone payments to Icagen in return for worldwide rights to lead compounds generated for the treatment of these disorders. Additionally, Yamanouchi supports clinical development and Icagen will receive royalties from the sale of any products generated by the collaboration.