Tobacco.org

• RJR spins off biotech company / Nicotine may yield Alzheimer's treatment 

"Nicotine was the natural product from tobacco that gave us clues," said Donald deBethizy, a Reynolds vice president, now Targacept's chief executive officer. "The work we did at (Reynolds) that turned into Targacept, was to apply the knowledge about nicotine."

Nicotine does a good job of finding certain targets or receptors, located on nerve cells, usually at the end of long strands. Within the nervous system - think of it as the body's wiring - these nicotine receptors act like volume knobs on a stereo, regulating the amount of chemicals released. In a number of diseases, there is a shortage or excess of chemicals controlled by these receptors. By reaching these receptors, a drug treatment could regulate the chemical level.

So far, most work in this field has been done using the nicotine patch, a smoking cessation device. . .

Targacept and others are developing compounds that mimic nicotine's ability to stimulate targets while reducing side effects.

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• R.J. Reynolds To Create Spinoff 

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. announced Thursday that it has spun off a drug development subsidiary, Targacept Inc., after securing $30.4 million in financing from venture capital firms.

Partners in the new privately held firm include EuclidSR Partners, Burrill & Co., Auriga Ventures, CDC Innovation, Genavent, Advent Venture Partners and Longleaf Venture Fund.

R.J. Reynolds, the nation's second bigest tobacco company with brands like Winston, Salem, Camel and Doral, will keep a 43 percent stake in the new company.

Targacept, formed in 1997, will continue to develop new compounds designed to treat Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ulcerative colitis and other disorders, company officials said.

In addition, Targacept has an agreement with Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc., signed in 1998, to develop new drugs to treat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

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This is a sound business decision for Targacept and Reynolds Tobacco. . . During the past decade, our scientists have developed great expertise in discovering new compounds and potential therapeutic uses of those compounds.
RJR CEO Andrew J. Schindler, on the spinoff of Targacept, which will continue to develop new compounds designed to treat Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ulcerative colitis and other disorders. <I>R.J. Reynolds To Create Spinoff</I>