In after-hours trading today Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) announced a collaboration with privately held pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. Together both companies will perform joint research aimed at discovering G protein-coupled receptors, which belongs to a group of orphan CNS receptors (CNS stands for Central Nervous System). This collaboration will mark a good one for both companies. 

Arena is providing exclusive rights to BI for its research on these novel orphan CNS receptors. Both companies will identify product candidates that can be targeted via these receptors. Under the terms of the agreement BI will have worldwide exclusive rights to these discovered compounds. Examples of targets that these companies can go after are: Alzheimer's, Schizophrenia, and Depression. These are large markets to target. For example, there are about 450 million people suffering with mental health problems.

Under the terms of the deal Arena is expected to receive up to $262 million in milestone payments pending successful marketed products. In addition, Arena will also be eligible for tiered royalties based on the products from the collaboration.