ACADIA PHARMACEUTICALS INC.
We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule drugs for the treatment of central nervous system disorders. We currently have five drug programs in clinical and preclinical development. Our three clinical programs are ACP-103 for treatment-induced dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease currently in Phase II clinical trials, and ACP-104 and ACP-103, both for the treatment of schizophrenia and expected to enter into Phase II clinical trials in 2004. We have retained worldwide commercialization rights to these drug candidates. We also have two preclinical programs for the development of drug candidates for neuropathic pain and glaucoma in collaboration with Allergan, Inc. Using our proprietary drug discovery platform, we have discovered all of the drug candidates in our product pipeline.
The annual worldwide market for drugs used to treat Parkinson’s disease exceeds $2 billion, and the annual worldwide market for drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other psychoses exceeds $12 billion. Current therapies in each of these two markets have substantial limitations, and we believe that significant opportunities exist for improved therapies.
We leverage our proprietary drug discovery platform and expertise through collaborations with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. We have three collaborations with Allergan and one with Amgen for the discovery of small molecule drug candidates and a technology license agreement with Aventis.
We have assembled a management team with significant industry experience to lead the discovery, development and commercialization of our drug programs. We complement our management team with a network of scientific and clinical advisors that includes recognized experts in the fields of Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and other central nervous system disorders.
Our Clinical and Preclinical Development Programs
In our first clinical program, we discovered and are developing ACP-103, a small molecule drug candidate, to treat the debilitating psychiatric and neurological dysfunction produced by current Parkinson’s disease therapies. ACP-103 is given orally and blocks the activity of a serotonin receptor that plays an important role in the treatment of various neuropsychiatric disorders. We are currently conducting our second Phase II clinical trial with ACP-103. This trial is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this drug candidate in Parkinson’s disease patients suffering from treatment-induced hallucinosis or psychosis without impairing motor skills.
In February 2004, we completed the treatment phase of a Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of ACP-103 in Parkinson’s disease patients. In 2003, we completed two Phase I clinical trials that assessed the safety, tolerability and blood drug levels of ACP-103. In all of our clinical trials to date, ACP-103 has been well tolerated and no serious adverse events have been observed.
In our second clinical program, we are developing ACP-104, a small molecule drug candidate, as a novel therapy for schizophrenia with the added advantage of beneficial cognitive effects. We plan to conduct four Phase II clinical trials with ACP-104 in 2004. The first two clinical trials will focus on safety and tolerability,and the second two clinical trials are designed to assess the efficacy of ACP-104 in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia having acute psychosis or untreated cognitive disturbances. ACP-104 acts upon a set of targets that have been validated by clinical experience to provide antipsychotic activity and cognitive enhancement.
In our third clinical program, we discovered and are developing ACP-103 as an adjunctive therapy to be used with current antipsychotic treatments. We plan to initiate a Phase II clinical trial with ACP-103 in mid-2004 to evaluate its ability, in combination with an antipsychotic drug, to reduce acute exacerbations of schizophrenia. We believe that the use of ACP-103 will result in an improved antipsychotic therapy without the severe, dose-limiting side effects of existing drugs.
In addition to our clinical programs, we have two programs in preclinical development in collaboration with Allergan. In the first program, we have discovered a new class of compounds that we believe represents a significant breakthrough in the treatment of neuropathic pain. Allergan has announced that it intends to initiate Phase I clinical trials for two compounds in 2004 and begin Phase II clinical trials in this program in 2005. In the second program, we have discovered, and in collaboration with Allergan, are developing AC-262271, a small molecule drug candidate for the treatment of glaucoma. AC-262271 has been found to have a promising preclinical profile and has been selected for testing for lowering intraocular pressure in humans.
Our Drug Discovery Platform
We have built a proprietary drug discovery platform that we use to rapidly discover new compounds that may serve as potential treatments for significant unmet medical needs. Our platform encompasses proprietary target-based and chemistry-based technologies that we integrate with our discovery and development capabilities. We believe that the breadth of our discovery and development programs and the rapid pace at which we have discovered drug candidates provide strong validation of our proprietary platform and a basis for expanding our pipeline.
We have established drug discovery and technical expertise in the areas of molecular biology, ultra-high throughput screening, molecular and behavioral pharmacology, and combinatorial, medicinal and analytical chemistry. In addition, we collaborate with world-renowned scientists, clinicians and academic institutions. We believe that our expertise, combined with our proprietary drug discovery platform, has allowed us to discover drug candidates more efficiently than traditional approaches.
Our Strategy
Our goal is to become a leader in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule drugs for the treatment of central nervous system disorders and other areas of unmet medical need. Key elements of our strategy are to:
• develop and commercialize our lead drug candidates;
• expand our pipeline of drug candidates for the treatment of central nervous system disorders;
• selectively establish strategic collaborations to advance and maximize the commercial potential of our pipeline;
• leverage our proprietary drug discovery platform to identify novel drug candidates outside of our core focus;
• maintain and enhance our technology leadership position; and
• opportunistically in-license or acquire complementary technologies and drug candidates. |
