JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. announced that it has achieved the first research milestone criterion in a collaboration with Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease ("Alexion") to develop an undisclosed initial therapeutic molecule that applies JCR's proprietary J-Brain Cargo®?, blood-brain barrier penetration technology, for the treatment of a neurodegenerative disease. The achievement of a predefined research milestone triggers a milestone payment to JCR. JCR recently strengthened its collaboration with Alexion to address unmet needs by initiating a second research collaboration in December 2023 to apply the same technology to oligonucleotide therapeutics.