Workpackage 01

Objectives

• To examine the brain circuits, neuronal elements and receptors responsible for the altered PFC activity and disruption of cortical oscillations induced in pharmacological (PCP and DOI-induced psychosis) animal models of schizophrenia.
• To examine the molecular and cellular basis of the impaired HIPP-VMPFC LTP compared with other VMPFC inputs from amygdala and thalamocortical coupling in putative animal models of depression and schizophrenia.
• To test the predictive validity of the above models by using classical and atypical antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs.
• To test potential antipsychotic and antidepressant drug candidates on the validated models (slow cortical oscillation and HIPP-VMPFC LTP disruption).

Workpackage Leads

Academic Lead: Prof. Francesc Artigas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientifícas, Spain
EFPIA Lead: Prof. Michael Spedding, Institut de Recherches Servier, France

Workpackage Partners

• H. Lundbeck A/S
• King’s College London
• Consejor Superior de Investigaciones Cientifícas 
• AstraZeneca AB
• Eli Lilly and Company Ltd
• Janssen Pharmaceutica NV
• Pfizer Limited
• Institut de Recherches Servier
• Abbott Laboratories 

Synergy between academia and industry

The revolution in neurosciences means that industry and academia are working on very similar precompetitive technologies independently and the very act of sharing these technologies, standardising, exchanging difficulties and reference compounds makes for an immense economy of effort and resources. The IMI provides an opportunity for the EFPIA partners to integrate their unique strengths (background pharmacokinetic analysis, unpublished knowledge and perspectives, molecular pharmacology resources) to be coupled to key academic questions; furthermore where these questions relate to drug effects – partnering with EFPIA ensures that there is explicit attention to PK issues so that the trivial (but underestimated) problems of drug disposition do not confound the interpretation of data. On the other hand the academic groups will bring to this collaboration unique expertise (single cell and local potentials) that is not presently available in its entirety within any single EFPIA lab. Thus, the collaboration will lead to new science and new capacity amongst partners.