Abbott Licenses Neurocrine Drug

Abbott Laboratories will pay $75 million up front for access to Neurocrine Biosciences’ elagolix, which has completed Phase II trials to treat endometriosis. The San Diego-based biotechnology company could get up to $500 million more if elagolix hits certain clinical and commercial milestones. Elagolix blocks gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptors in the pituitary gland, lowering the levels of sex hormones in circulation. The drug candidate differs from currently marketed drugs, which are peptides that act as GnRH agonists, in that it only partially suppresses estrogen and thus prevents the bone loss associated with other drugs.