In April 2016, Gowling WLG advised Heptares, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sosei Group Corporation, on a $3.375 billion global R&D and commercialisation partnership with Allergan Pharmaceuticals to license a broad portfolio of compounds targeting neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease.

Heptares Therapeutics is a drug discovery and development company focused on creating new medicines to treat central nervous system disorders, cancer, metabolic and other diseases. It has partnerships with a number of major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, such as Allergan, AstraZeneca, MedImmune, MorphoSys, Pfizer and Teva, for the development of its novel drug candidates and technologies.

The collaboration is a step towards advancing the development of and commercialisation of treatments which could help the estimated 45 million people worldwide who suffer from dementia.

The life sciences team at Gowling WLG has been working with Heptares for eight years, advising on a range of IP and collaboration matters. This matter was led by partner and UK head of life sciences, Patrick Duxbury.

Under the agreement, Heptares will receive upfront payment of $125 million. It will also be eligible to receive milestone payments of up to around $3.25 billion plus royalties on net sales of all products resulting from the partnership.

Furthermore, and to support ongoing development, Allergen will commit up to $50 million to a joint research and development programme aimed at enhancing possible treatments through a phase of clinical studies.