Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Neurogen to net $2.25M from selling C5a patents

By Mass High Tech staff

Neurogen Corp., a pharmaceuticals firm in Branford, Conn., is in the midst of a $2.25 million sale of its C5a patent estate. The sale stemmed from the company’s interest in developing new inflammatory disorder drugs.

Neurogen (Nasdaq: NRGN) also announced the receipt last week of the last payment on a $3 million sale of its chemical library to “a major pharmaceutical company,” the firm said.

The company has made restructuring efforts by trying to sell its “non-core assets.” Last month, the financially troubled Neurogen had announced it was selling off four of its five buildings to an unnamed buyer to raise money. The transaction, however, was terminated by the planned purchaser because of the “current state of the credit markets.”

Neurogen develops small-molecule drugs to treat psychiatric and neurological disorders. It abandoned the development of the drug adipiplon as a treatment for insomnia and instead is focusing on the drug aplindore, which treats restless leg syndrome and Parkinson’s disease.

Last month, Neurogen reported that revenue in the third quarter of 2008 was zero. It lost $31.4 million in third-quarter 2008, up from a loss of $7.89 million in the prior year. Revenue also dropped to zero, down from sales of $7.5 million in third-quarter 2007.