New Monash biotech company receives funding to tackle cognitive disorders
20 July 2022
Professor Chris Langmead and Dr Gregory Stewart
A new Monash biotech company called Phrenix Therapeutics has received funding to advance research to develop new therapeutics for cognitive disorders, particularly in schizophrenia.
Researchers from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) are spearheading the company in collaboration with the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health with funding from CUREator, a national biomedical incubator managed by life science collaboration Brandon BioCatalyst.
Phrenix Therapeutics was identified by CUREator as an early-stage biomedical innovation with long-term potential, due to the group's use of a unique platform encompassing medicinal chemistry, structural biology, analytical pharmacology and clinically-relevant preclinical testing to identify new approaches to improve cognition.
Phrenix Therapeutics Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Gregory Stewart, said there are currently no effective treatments for impaired cognition in patients living with schizophrenia and an urgent unmet medical need remains.