PsychoGenics announces alliance with experimental neuropharmacology expert for specialized microdialysis services

PsychoGenics Inc. today announced the establishment of an exclusive alliance with Dr. Jan Kehr, an internationally recognized expert in experimental neuropharmacology, to provide specialized microdialysis services to complement PsychoGenics’ in vivo testing capabilities.

“I am very much looking forward to working with PsychoGenics and capitalizing on the opportunity to complement its vast array of contract research services, proprietary technologies and drug discovery capabilities”

Dr. Kehr has held prominent positions at the world renowned Karolinska Institute for almost 15 years and currently holds an adjunct senior scientist position with the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. Dr. Kehr’s expertise in microdialysis, biosensors, and high-sensitivity HPLC techniques for neurochemical analysis will complement and broaden PsychoGenics’ in vivo and in vitro capabilities, in the identification and analysis of CNS drug candidates for its numerous clients, partners, and internal drug discovery programs.

“I am very much looking forward to working with PsychoGenics and capitalizing on the opportunity to complement its vast array of contract research services, proprietary technologies and drug discovery capabilities,” said Dr. Jan Kehr, Ph.D.

PsychoGenics, together with Dr. Kehr, will provide a broad suite of microdialysis and analytical methods, including rapid measurements of biogenic amines such as dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin, as well as other neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, glutamate, aspartate, GABA, and glycine. In addition, microdialysis measurements of the concentrations of an experimental drug in both plasma and brain can be performed and compared temporally to the effect of the drug on brain neurochemistry, with such pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic comparisons being useful for translational medicine. Furthermore, a wide range of analytical services for the measurement of molecules recovered by microdialysis and other methods from brain and other organs or preparations will be offered; these include adenosine, nitric oxide, kynurenic acid, reactive oxygen species, glucose, lactate, as well as cyclic-AMP and –GMP, neuropeptides, cytokines, hormones and growth factors. Another innovative experimental platform now available through PsychoGenics is the use of microdialysis in a behaving animal, which allows direct correlation of transmitter changes with ongoing behavior.

“We are excited to enter into this alliance with Dr Kehr further cementing PsychoGenics as a leading CNS company with in vivo and in vitro drug evaluation capabilities. This allows us to provide a more comprehensive discovery service program to our clients, partners, and enhances our own internal drug discovery programs,” commented David Pushett Ph.D., Vice President, Business Development.

David Lowe, Ph.D., PsychoGenics’ Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President added “We are delighted to be working with Jan Kehr, incorporating his renowned expertise in microdialysis in PsychoGenics’ drug discovery capabilities. The addition of this capability will allow us to help clients and partners understand drug action at a more detailed and quantitative level, and thereby predict human efficacy and therapeutic utility of drug candidates.”