Orion Corporation and Gedeon Richter Plc. have entered into a long term collaboration agreement for the discovery and development of new chemical entities in the field of cognitive disorders.

According to the agreement the partnership provides an opportunity whereby the two companies jointly select and bring forward three discovery phase candidates and share all the development related expenses on an equal base. Under the terms of the agreement the territory related marketing rights have not been determined yet.

Orion is a globally operating Finnish company developing pharmaceuticals and diagnostic tests. The company develops, manufactures and markets human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and diagnostic tests. Orion’s net sales in 2012 amounted to EUR 980 million and the company had about 3,500 employees. Orion’s A and B shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.

Gedeon Richter Plc., headquartered in Budapest/Hungary, is a major pharmaceutical company in Central Eastern Europe. The company’s original research activity focuses on CNS disorders but is also active in the scope of biosimilar product development. Richter’s consolidated sales were approximately EUR 1.1 billion (USD 1.5 billion) while its market capitalization amounted to EUR 2.3 billion (USD 3.1 billion) in 2012.