PsychoGenics Achieves a Milestone in Drug Discovery Collaboration with Sunovion

TARRYTOWN, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– PGI Drug Discovery LLC (PsychoGenics), announced that Sunovion
Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed an IND for SEP-378608 triggering a milestone
payment to PsychoGenics in its drug discovery and development
collaboration.

The compound, SEP-378608 is the second compound to enter clinical
development; the first SEP-363856 is an investigational psychotropic
agent with a novel mechanism of action that is being studied in Phase II
clinical trials as a treatment for patients with schizophrenia and for
Parkinson’s disease psychosis.

In August 2007, PsychoGenics and Sunovion entered into a drug discovery
and development agreement to combine their complementary strengths and
expertise to identify a new generation of treatments for
neuropsychiatric disorders. Using its proprietary in vivo drug
discovery technologies, including its SmartCube^® system,
PsychoGenics evaluated a library of Sunovion compounds, leading to the
discovery of several new drug candidates with novel modes of action
including SEP-363856 and SEP-378608.

“We have been extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to work
closely with the talented discovery team at Sunovion. Our partnership
with Sunovion has resulted in several discovery programs, all discovered
phenotypically with novel mechanisms of action. The programs are
expected to offer patients much needed treatment options for
debilitating CNS disorders,” remarked Emer Leahy, Ph.D., PsychoGenics
President & CEO. “We look forward to advancing many more programs into
the clinic and following the clinical progress of SEP-363856 and
SEP-378608.”

PsychoGenics’ SmartCube®, NeuroCube®, and PhenoCube®
drug discovery platforms combine broad in vivo behavioral
expertise with developments in robotics, computer vision, and
bioinformatics to evaluate drug candidates for potential utility across
the spectrum of CNS disease indications. Working in partnership with
pharmaceutical and biotech companies, PsychoGenics has been instrumental
in identifying therapeutic potential both for discontinued compounds and
for compounds with novel mechanisms of action.

About PsychoGenics

PsychoGenics is a leader in in vivo phenotypic drug discovery.
The Company’s capabilities include behavioral testing,
electrophysiology, translational EEG, quantitative histology, molecular
biology, and microdialysis. Complementing its extensive capabilities,
the company offers to its clients a variety of proprietary mouse models
including in-licensed transgenic models that support research in areas
such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease,
autism spectrum disorders, psychosis/schizophrenia, Spinal Muscular
Atrophy, muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular disorders.
PsychoGenics has also pioneered the translation of rodent behavioral
responses into robust, high throughput, and high content phenotyping.
Its drug discovery platforms, SmartCube®, NeuroCube®, and
PhenoCube® have been used in shared risk partnerships with major
pharma companies such as Sunovion and Roche and has resulted in the
discovery of several novel compounds now in clinical trials or advanced
preclinical development.

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