Servier Buys Option On MS Drug

French pharmaceutical firm Servier will pay Geneva-based GeNeuro $47 million up front for an option to license GNbAC1, a treatment in Phase II studies to address an underlying cause of multiple sclerosis. GeNeuro will continue supporting GNbAC1 until Phase IIb studies are completed, after which Servier can opt to buy into the program. If Servier exercises its option, GeNeuro could receive up to $408 million in milestones and payments. GNbAC1 targets MSRV-Env, an envelope protein of MS-associated retrovirus, which is turned on in the brain lesions of people with early-stage MS.