The two researchers have worked since 1996 to identify specific compounds that show promise in offering a more complete treatment for depression than that of  current drugs.

Specifically the agreement, which will be officially announced during a conference in Canada today , provides AstraZeneca with a global license to develop, manufacture and market a drug from a portfolio of compounds developed by the researchers.

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal is based on the success of a new drug being developed, said Mark Coburn , president of Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc.
“There are terms for reaching preclinical, clinical and commercial milestones and royalty payments,” he said.

So far only data from preclinical, or non-human, tests have been collected. The agreement includes funding for the two researchers to continue developing new preclinical compounds for a year, with the option to renew.

Early, or phase one, clinical trials could begin in about a year.

“This is a new class of antidepressant compounds and we think it’s promising both medically and commercially,” said Jamie Smith, a spokesman for AstraZeneca. “There is a huge unmet medical need in the area of depression and some think potentially this new class could deliver a greater efficacy and improved side effects.”

The compounds are part of a class called  triple reuptake inhibitors . While current classes of antidepressant therapies block only one or two of the neurotransmitters in the brain that are linked to depression, this new class blocks three  of them.

Proven treatments for depression address imbalances in the neurotransmitters selective  serotonin and  norepinephrine.

The compounds developed  through the Virginia Tech-Mayo Clinic collaboration address those imbalances as well as a third.

“Besides incorporating all the benefits associated with serotonin and norepinephrine inhibition, our TRI compounds include the additional action of the dopamine neurotransmitter,” said Paul Carlier , the Virginia Tech researcher.

Those are the three major neurotransmitters associated with mood control, Carlier said.

While Smith said this is not AstraZeneca’s first step into the world of TRI compounds, he noted that there is no drug in the marketplace that addresses all three neurotransmitters.

Dr.  Elliott Richelson, the Mayo Clinic researcher, said targeting all three could improve the treatment possibilities for patients with depression or anxiety.

The two researchers teamed up after Carlier sent Richelson a letter asking if he was interested in a compound he had developed.  The two  have worked together since 1996, Carlier said, and  have already published three papers together and filed for several patents.

“So from a scientific standpoint it’s gone very well,” Carlier said. “But what you really need to do to get to the next step is to get companies interested.”

Both researchers credited Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties and Mayo Clinic for providing financing for the research over the years. Neither of the amounts contributed were disclosed.

“It’s unusual for universities or Mayo Clinic to invest in translational research, so this was beneficial to the project,” Coburn said. “I wish we had more funds at Virginia Tech to invest in projects like this.”

Coburn said this is the type of partnership that Virginia Tech hopes to cultivate through its partnership with Carilion Clinic in the development of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute.

“This is just a great illustration of a university and a medical center like Mayo Clinic working together … to come up with something,” he said. “I hope we see more examples of these collaborations down the road with Carilion.”