Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Arcadia Pharma funds Sz Drugs

In a company press releas on April 15th, Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. stated that it is raising $ 36 million in a private placement to fund its ongoing Phase II programs in Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.

Tom Aasen, vice president and chief financial officer for Acadia, who said a major portion of the proceeds will fund the Phase II programs in lead drug candidates that are named "ACP-103" and "ACP-104" (companies don't given potential drugs a formal name until they get close to FDA approval), and will also fund "the foundation for the late-stage development of these drug candidates."

Acadia is developing ACP-103, a selective 5-HT2A inverse agonist, in treatment-inducted dysfunction in Parkinson's patients.

ACP-103 also is in development as an adjunctive therapy to treat schizophrenia by reducing the side effects stemming from the use of existing anti-psychotic drugs. The company anticipates reporting results from a Phase II trial evaluating ACP-103 in treatment-induced akathisia in schizophrenic patients during the second half of the year.

"And this quarter, we expect to initiate a large Phase II adjunctive trial with ACP-103 to explore its use with two different drugs - respiradone and haloperidol," Aasen told BioWorld Today.

The company also expects results from its Phase II study of ACP-104 as a stand-alone treatment for schizophrenia during the second half of 2005. ACP-104 is a metabolite of clozapine N-desmethylclozapine, and is designed to improve cognition by stimulating m1 muscarinic receptors in the brain.

Source: Arcadia Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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