Genomic research could spell new drugs for schizophrenia and other disorders

A partnership between the Broad Institute’s Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research in Cambridge, Mass., and Tetra Discovery Partners based in Grand Rapids, Mich., that pores over the human genome for specific variants in schizophrenia may make way for new pharmaceutical therapies for psychiatric disease, Tetra announced April 9.

The Broad Institute is a collaboration between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) established in 2004 to further molecular medicine. The Stanley Center focuses on the genetic and molecular foundations of psychiatric disease in order to promote new diagnostic and therapeutic drugs.

The new partnership between the institute and Tetra will make use of the Stanley Center’s collection of DNA samples from subjects with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder-the most extensive of its kind available. A new genetic model of schizophrenia can then be used to test Tetra drug candidates with an aim to improve cognition in those with psychiatric disorders.

"The Stanley Center is pleased to work with an innovative young company like Tetra to better understand the potential of their compounds for treating memory impairment in schizophrenia," said Edward Scolnick, MD, chief scientific officer of the Stanley Center, in a press release. "There is a need to evaluate new drugs with new mechanisms of action in serious psychiatric diseases. We welcome the opportunity to work with Tetra to lay the groundwork to help meet that need."

Mark Gurney, PhD, founder and CEO for Tetra expects a novel therapeutic drug to graduate to human clinical trials as early as next year.

"This collaboration between Tetra Discovery Partners and the Broad Institute's Stanley Center has brought together significant resources and people to discover the next generation of drugs to treat major psychiatric diseases," said Gurney. "There is a need to better predict the potential efficacy of drugs with new mechanisms of action in translational models, and to better select patients for clinical trials. The team at the Stanley Center understands this challenge. This collaboration gives our schizophrenia program the highest chance of success."