Psynova Neurotech, Roche collaborate in development of diagnostic immunoassays for schizophrenia treatment

Rules-Based Medicine, Inc. (RBM) today announced that Psynova Neurotech Limited (Cambridge UK), a majority-owned subsidiary of RBM, has executed an exclusive research and licensing agreement with Roche to collaborate on the discovery, development, validation and commercialization of diagnostic immunoassays to aid the clinical development and commercial differentiation of novel treatments for schizophrenia.

Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will contract Psynova to identify candidate serum protein biomarkers that have utility in prognosis of disease progression and predicting or monitoring the efficacy and safety of a compound from Roche's central nervous system (CNS) pipeline. Psynova will utilize its proprietary schizophrenia biomarker panels, its extensive CNS disease database and its access to RBM's DiscoveryMAP(TM) technology to identify a specific biomarker signature that could serve as a companion diagnostic. Any resulting companion diagnostic will be developed either by Psynova and RBM (as the preferred developer for the companion diagnostic in partnership with Roche), or independently by Roche, which would result in milestone and royalty payments to Psynova.

"We are excited to enter into this partnership with Roche," said Dr. Sabine Bahn, chief scientific officer and founder of Psynova. "This alliance is part of an ongoing strategy to leverage the value of our biomarker portfolio in both the development of novel diagnostic aids for physicians and the accelerated development and delivery of novel therapeutics for patients."