Inscopix’s miniature microscope-based brain mapping platform will help identify neural activity patterns underlying disease-associated behaviours
Image: Inscopix and Astellas will develop preclinical drug screening assays for psychiatric disorders. Photo: courtesy of PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay.
Inscopix has collaborated with Astellas Pharma subsidiary Astellas Research Institute of America for the development of novel preclinical drug screening assays for psychiatric disorders.
Under the two-year research collaboration, Inscopix’s miniature microscope-based brain mapping platform will be used for the identification of neural activity patterns underlying disease-associated behaviours, as well as examine deficits in these patterns in animal models of disease.
The research will help identify new drug targets and treatment approaches, in addition to assess the efficacy of candidate therapies during preclinical therapeutic development.
Inscopix. CEO Dr Kunal Ghosh said: “Inscopix’s brain-mapping platform has enabled a deeper understanding of disease biology, and this collaboration allows us to tackle complex psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.”
Inscopix’s nVoke miniature microscope platform will be used to evaluate neural activity patterns during the performance of behavioural tasks
The scientists will employ Inscopix’s nVoke miniature microscope platform to study neural activity patterns during the performance of behavioural tasks, which reflect clinical features of disease.
Inscopix’s nVoke miniature microscope-based solution is designed to simultaneously image and manipulate large-scale neural circuit dynamics in freely behaving subjects.
The researchers will mainly focus on brain regions, circuits and cell types, which have been implicated in human pathophysiology.
In addition, the researchers will describe aberrant brain activity in rodent disease models to create a better platform for future efficacy studies.
Inscopix senior lead scientist Dr Jonathan Nassi said: “Developing precise and efficacious therapeutics for psychiatric disorders would have a significant impact for patients and their families.
“Through this collaboration, we look forward to enabling a more mechanistic understanding of brain function during behavior to inform preclinical development and better predict clinical outcomes.”
Inscopix supports the development of next-generation therapeutics for difficult-to-treat brain disorder via innovative research and predictive preclinical therapeutic development. It offers validated solutions for real-time mapping of neural activity in brain circuits.
Recently, Immuno-Transcriptomics company Novigenix has collaborated with radiopharmaceutical firm RadioMedix for the development of a diagnostic test for neuroendocrine cancer.