PsychoGenics Inc. Expands Huntington Disease Research Collaboration With High Q Foundation And CHDI

TARRYTOWN, N.Y., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- PsychoGenics Inc. Tarrytown, New York has expanded its research collaboration with the High Q Foundation and CHDI Inc. to phenotype transgenic mouse models of Huntington Disease (HD) and evaluate potential therapeutics in those models.

HD is a devastating, hereditary, and ultimately fatal neurological condition for which no treatment currently exists. HD gradually and progressively impacts an individual's capacity to function, affecting their physical and cognitive abilities. The transgenic HD models provide a valuable discovery tool to aid in the development of much needed drugs.

"We are delighted about expanding our work with CHDI and High Q. Combining transgenic models with our behavioral expertise will aid in the discovery of new therapies for HD," said Dr. Daniela Brunner, PsychoGenics' VP of Behavioral Research and Development.

As part of this collaboration PsychoGenics has developed standardized and validated protocols that include assessment of motor and cognitive behavior during disease progression in established transgenic mouse models of HD. Using these mouse models and an adaptive allocation approach to experiment design, whereby compounds are screened and actives are re-screened to increase the statistical power, PsychoGenics has developed a high throughput approach to compound screening allowing the company to profile the effects of compounds on multiple behavioral domains.

"PsychoGenics' ability to rapidly screen drug candidates for HD through established high quality behavioral tests has enabled us to expand the relationship and increase the number of potential therapeutics to be evaluated," explained Dr Larry Park, CHDI Director of Preclinical Research.

About CHDI and High Q Foundation:

CHDI, Inc. and the High Q Foundation, Inc. (High Q) are non-profit organizations that share the mission of bringing together academia, industry, governmental agencies, and other funding organizations in the search for Huntington disease (HD) treatments. CHDI, Inc. is pursuing a biotech approach to rapidly discover and develop drugs that prevent or slow HD. Through collaborations with industrial and academic partners, CHDI, Inc., participates in all aspects of drug discovery and development from high throughput screening to preclinical development. High Q supports HD research aimed at target identification and validation, the development and use of animal models, drug delivery, and the search for markers of disease progression.

For more information about CHDI, Inc. and the High Q Foundation please contact:

Robert Pacifici, Ph.D. Chief Scientific Advisor to CHDI, Inc. Ph: 310.342.5507 robert.pacifici@chdi-inc.org or visit www.chdi-inc.org Ethan Signer, Ph.D. Senior Scientific Advisor to High Q Ph: 212.219.0347 ethan.signer@highqfoundation.org or visit www.highqfoundation.org About PsychoGenics:

PsychoGenics is a leader in preclinical behavioral neurobiology and a provider of customized and innovative solutions for central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery. PsychoGenics works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit research foundations to address such major neurological disorders as: ALS, Huntington's Disease, anxiety, cognitive impairment, depression, psychosis/schizophrenia and SMA. PsychoGenics supports the understanding and treatment of CNS disorders by offering an extensive range of established and customized solutions, including validated in vivo behavioral tests, genotyping, behavioral pharmacology, phenotyping, neuromorphology, bioinformatics, microdialysis and radiotelemetry.

For more information on PsychoGenics Inc. and its services contact: David Pushett, Ph.D. VP Business Development Ph: (914) 593 0640 david.pushett@psychogenics.com or visit www.psychogenics.com

PsychoGenics Inc.

CONTACT: Robert Pacifici, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Advisor to CHDI, Inc.,+1-310-342-5507, robert.pacifici@chdi-inc.org; or Ethan Signer, Ph.D.,Senior Scientific Advisor to High Q, +1-212-219-0347,ethan.signer@highqfoundation.org; or David Pushett, Ph.D., VP BusinessDevelopment of PsychoGenics Inc., +1-914-593-0640,david.pushett@psychogenics.com

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