Date: Jul 10, 2012 Source: (
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CAMBRIDGE, MA. Galenea Corporation ("Galenea") today announced that it has entered into a strategic neuroscience collaboration with Eisai Co. Ltd ("Eisai").
Under the collaboration, Galenea will apply its synaptic transmission platform technology to address synaptic dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases. The collaboration's goals are the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for neurodegeneration mediated by a disease-specific protein.
Galenea's approach addresses three critical challenges in neuroscience drug discovery: disease mechanism, using MANTRA™, a novel, high throughput screening system for synaptic function; predictive animal models, using integrated behavioral assessment and EEG measures; and clinical biomarkers, using translational EEG measures elicited by behavioral tasks in the clinic. The MANTRA system is the only high throughput screening system for directly identifying modulators of synaptic transmission in primary neurons.
Under the terms of the collaboration, Eisai will make an up-front payment and milestone payments throughout the program.
"Eisai has one of the most successful neuroscience franchises today, and has made a clear commitment to innovation and discovery. This collaboration, which is focused on a single, highly implicated target in neurodegeneration, has been crafted to take advantage of our unique approach." said Mark Benjamin, Galenea's President & CEO. "We are thrilled to be working with Eisai, and we see enormous potential in this program and partnership."
About Galenea
Galenea is a leader in the rapidly emerging field of synaptic transmission (ST), the process by which neurons communicate with each other. Dysfunctions in ST are now widely believed to play a central role in many psychiatric, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, and modulators of ST therefore have the potential to yield breakthrough treatments. Galenea has developed an innovative ST drug discovery platform that integrates three components: MANTRA™, a high throughput, proprietary screening technology to identify a new generation of small molecule modulators of synaptic transmission; in vivo models using integrated EEG measures of animal behavior to more reliably determine CNS drug efficacy; and human EEG biomarkers, developed in tandem with and informed by our animal EEG data to greatly enhance CNS drug development. The company is advancing a novel pro-cognitive program derived from the platform and the approach can be extended to address multiple CNS disorders. Based in Cambridge, MA, Galenea has assembled a compelling scientific team, balancing academic aptitude with industry experience and entrepreneurship. For more information about Galenea, please visit the company's website at www.galenea.com
About Eisai Co., Ltd.
Eisai Co., Ltd. is a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Through a global network of research facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, Eisai actively participates in all aspects of the worldwide healthcare system. Eisai employs approximately 11,000 employees worldwide.
