PsychoGenics
Scientist
on
November 22, 2021
This installment of Supplier Spotlight® is on PsychoGenics, a preclinical CRO which provides disease models and comprehensive preclinical capabilites and strives to discover novel treatments for CNS and orphan disorders.
## What is your company’s mission?
Our mission is to provide the best validated disease models and comprehensive preclinical capabilities to help companies discover the next generation of treatments for severely disabling CNS and orphan disorders and reduce the attrition rate in clinical development.
What products and services do you offer?
We offer a broad suite of tools to help biotech and pharmaceutical companies develop their programs. Our products and services include behavioral testing, electrophysiology, translational EEG, quantitative histology, molecular biology and microdialysis. We host a variety of validated 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 and schizophrenia, spinal muscular atrophy, muscular dystrophy and a wide array of pain models.
What problems do you solve?
We perform behavioral, EEG and immunohistochemical tests and animal models for our clients working on new drugs. Our 20+ years of experience and technological innovation allows us to perform high-throughput, rater-independent research while working closely with our clients’ research teams in a scientist-to-scientist, collaborative manner.
What are the most innovative tools and technologies that you offer?
PsychoGenics is known for our drug discovery platform, which includes the SmartCube®, NeuroCube®, PhenoCube® and eCube™ systems. These are high-throughput, phenotypic screening tools that allow us to identify and validate novel therapeutics. Our discovery platforms have generated several clinical compounds, most notably Ulotaront1 , a Breakthrough Status treatment currently in Phase III.
Our CRO services also leverage this AI technology: NeuroCube provides gait analysis, computer-vision analysis of the Forced Swim Test, eCube’s recurrent neural networks provide deep insight into client compound properties, and we have automated image analyses in our immunohistochemistry department. These tools, among others, provide unique, high-throughput, rater-independent data.
What are your competitive advantages?
PsychoGenics is known for our quality of scientific work, our expertise in specific disease areas and our boutique approach to custom study design.
Quality – We are AAALAC-accredited, founding members of the European Quality In Preclinical Data (EQIPD) consortium outlining best practices in preclinical research, and 90% of our business is from repeat clients.
Scientific expertise – We have specific experience in drug development and IND-enabling studies, which is unique among preclinical CROs. Our staff have pioneered specific disease areas; for example, PsychoGenics contributed to the foundational “Field Guide to Working with Mouse Models of Huntington’s Disease,” which serves as a foundational text in HD research2. We hold exclusive licenses for particular animal models, and use our in-house breeding capabilities to establish and expand private colonies. Finally, we have a large ~150 person staff, with over 20% holding PhDs.
Custom study design – PsychoGenics is known for our boutique study design process; we have a unique, high-touch collaboration style to support our client scientists and optimize their study designs. We advise on best practices and make recommendations on how to maximize study value through our decades of experience in the space. We specialize in complex studies, studies with changing timelines and offer study flexibility by processing samples in-house.
Who are your clients?
We work with over 200 biotech and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. In addition, we are partnered with the NIH in a 5-year, $50MM project to test treatments in a search for a non-opioid analgesic as part of the HEAL Initiative. We also support the work of many foundations and non-profits.
What new products and services are you developing in 2021?
In 2021 we continue to expand our broad set of capabilities. We are growing our pain program, adding additional seizure models such as kainic acid-induced model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), adding new translational EEG services such as Auditory Evoked Potentials and Mismatch Negativity, adding tuberous sclerosis models such as TSC1GFAPCKO, adding Dravet models such as SCN1a, adding cognitive models and supplementing our surgical suite with new services like hippocampal kindling models.
Where are your laboratories and offices located?
Our offices, vivaria and lab facilities are located at 215 College Road, Paramus, NJ, where we have 80,000 square feet of custom-built space.
How has Scientist.com helped your business?
Scientist.com has helped us reach new clients and streamline our onboarding process.