Galenea Corp., a Cambridge, MA-based company that focuses on synaptic transmission, has received a $6m equity investment from The Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI).
The company intends to use the capital for the development of its innovative pro-cognitive discovery program and the selection of a clinical candidate for the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. The funding is expected to advance the therapeutic candidate through the submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The program includes a proteomics collaboration with the Broad Institute as part of a broader effort being undertaken by The Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. The collaboration will be led at the Broad Institute by Dr. Steven Carr, director of the Proteomics Platform.
Led by President and CEO Mark Benjamin, DSc, and Vice President of CNS Research David Gerber, PhD, Galenea has developed proprietary technology, the MANTRA™ (Multiwell, Automated NeuroTRansmission Assay) system, which enables direct high throughput screening of synaptic function in cultured primary neurons from mice and rats, and in neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells. The company is using the MANTRA™ system to characterize synaptic dysfunctions in disease models and to identify signatures of therapeutic compound classes.
This program, which also receives significant support from NIMH, should deliver an IND candidate in 2015.
FinSMEs
26/04/2012