BANGALORE, India, February 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Jubilant Biosys Limited, Bangalore announced today that they have entered into drug discovery collaboration with Mnemosyne Pharmaceutical Inc, Providence, Rhode Island that will seek to identify preclinical candidates in the area of neuropsychiatric diseases. The collaboration will focus on developing subunit selective NMDA receptor modulators (SNRMs) that Mnemosyne has identified.  The alliance shall initially span a period of 2 years and may be extended on mutual consent across other therapeutic programs as well. 

The multi-target program agreement will be enabled by the expertise of Mnemosyne in NMDA receptor pharmacology and supported by Jubilant's translational center in Malvern, Pennsylvania and by scientists from Jubilant's India based facilities. The collaboration will leverage the capabilities of the companies across medicinal chemistry, NMDA receptor pharmacology, electrophysiology, computational chemistry and DMPK and in vivo pharmacology as appropriate in progressing promising compounds that have been identified by Mnemosyne.   Under the terms of the alliance agreement, Mnemosyne will exclusively own all IP generated and shall be responsible for clinical development and commercialization.

Commenting on this achievement, Sri Mosur, CEO & President, Global Drug Discovery & Development, Jubilant said: "We are pleased to collaborate with Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals Inc, on the SNRM platform,We are excited about the Mnemosyne programs and enthused that our ion channel expertise in Malvern, Pennsylvania supported by already demonstrated capabilities in India will be leveraged in this collaboration to deliver optimal outcomes in the difficult area of neuroscience research. This creative alliance further demonstrates Jubilant's commitment to global R&D in enabling early discovery research towards optimal commercialization."

Commenting on the collaboration Mnemosyne CEO, Dr. Kollol Pal said that "Mnemosyne is very impressed with the integrated chemistry and biology expertise that has been assembled by Jubilant, particularly in the area of ion channels and neuroscience.  We are looking forward to a successful collaboration with Jubilant that will produce first-in-class drugs that address the unmet medical need in neuropsychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease."

About Us

Jubilant Biosys Ltd. is a Bengaluru based subsidiary of Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd, headquartered in Noida, India. Jubilant Biosys, provides integrated drug discovery and development solutions to the global pharmaceutical industry. It is a pioneer in collaborative discovery research and development and is engaged in multiple partnerships with global pharmaceutical industry in therapeutic areas of Oncology, CNS and CVMED.

http://www.jubilantbiosys.com

About Mnemosyne

Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately-held, biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics for the neuropsychiatry market. The company's drug discovery efforts are focused on targeting the NMDA receptor, which is known to be the "master" switch for learning and memory. Mnemosyne's lead program is for schizophrenia, and the company is exploring additional indications including Alzheimer's disease, recovery from stroke and traumatic brain injury and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

http://www.mnemosynepharma.com

SOURCE Jubilant Biosys Ltd