Valby, 2018-01-05 08:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) now adds another novel approach to its efforts to research and develop new and better treatments for schizophrenia. Forming a partnership with Vanderbilt University (Vanderbilt), Lundbeck both acquires an exclusive license and enters a research collaboration regarding Vanderbilt’s research program aimed at a novel approach to treating schizophrenia.

Lundbeck and Vanderbilt will collaborate on further developing compounds invented by Vanderbilt with a new way of working in the brain compared to existing treatments. Tests in mice have indicated the new approach to bear significant anti-psychotic efficacy and very low risk of side effects.

“We are impressed with the research and new hypothesis created by Vanderbilt and are excited to collaborate to take this work forward. Huge unmet medical needs remain within schizophrenia, a debilitating and potentially life threatening disease, and we are hopeful that this may enable us to provide a new treatment that could improve the life of many patients,” says Kim Andersen, Senior Vice President of Research at Lundbeck.

Drug candidate expected in 2020

The potential new treatment addresses the problem of schizophrenic patients having too much of the chemical messenger dopamine in the brain. Too much dopamine is what causes psychosis for the patients, which the new treatment is hypothesized to reverse by reducing dopamine release in the brain. This is a whole new approach compared to existing treatments aiming at blocking the dopamine receptors in the brain.

Due to the novel way of working in the brain, a new medicine might bear superior efficacy in patients who do not adequately respond to current treatments together with a reduced risk of side effects. The concept is believed to offer therapeutic benefit besides psychotic symptoms, e.g. cognitive symptoms, to patients suffering from schizophrenia. In addition, the concept might also benefit patients suffering from other brain diseases, e.g. Alzheimer’s disease.

A selected drug candidate is expected to be ready for transition into clinical development by 2020.

The partnership with Vanderbilt follows Lundbeck’s strategy of in-licensing early stage research projects to supplement the company’s own research and technology base. Other partnerships include 23andMe, York University, IBM, Immunobrain Checkpoint and Ossianix.

Contacts

Mads Kronborg                                                                                                                                                                            

Senior Director, Corporate Communication                                                              

Phone: +45 36 43 40 00                                                                         

E-mail: mavk@lundbeck.com                                                                                       
 

About Lundbeck

H. Lundbeck A/S (LUN.CO, LUN DC, HLUYY) is a global pharmaceutical company specialized in psychiatric and neurological disorders. For more than 70 years, we have been at the forefront of research within neuroscience. Our key areas of focus are depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

An estimated 700 million people worldwide are living with psychiatric and neurological disorders and far too many suffer due to inadequate treatment, discrimination, a reduced number of working days, early retirement and other unnecessary consequences. Every day, we strive for improved treatment and a better life for people living with psychiatric and neurological disorders – we call this Progress in Mind.

Read more at www.lundbeck.com/global/about-us/progress-in-mind.

Our approximately 5,000 employees in 55 countries are engaged in the entire value chain throughout research, development, production, marketing and sales. Our pipeline consists of several late-stage development programmes and our products are available in more than 100 countries. We have research centres in China and Denmark and production facilities in China, Denmark, France and Italy. Lundbeck generated revenue of DKK 15.6 billion in 2016 (EUR 2.1 billion; USD 2.3 billion).

For additional information, we encourage you to visit our corporate site www.lundbeck.com and connect with us on Twitter at @Lundbeck.