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CRO – with in vivo behavioral psychopharmacology testing for novel drug development with relevance to treatment of schizophrenia and other diseases featuring psychotic symptoms or cognitive impairment.
Based on long time experience and accumulated expertise, the company offers fast, efficient and reliable testing of novel drug molecules using rodent drug screening tests such as:
- The conditioned avoidance response (CAR) test for assessment of drug antipsychotic activity – a well evaluated test with high predictive validity
- The catalepsy test for assessment of drug extrapyramidal side effect (i.e. Parkinsonism) liability – a well evaluated test with high predictive, as well as face and construct, validity
- The attentional set-shifting test for assessment of cognitive functioning – considered relevant for assessment of frontal lobe attentional impairment (as observed in for example schizophrenia and frontal lobe dementias)
The company also offers consulting, short courses, and lectures on topics related to in vivo drug testing, as well as physiology and psychology involving mental health issues.
Details
The conditioned avoidance response (CAR) test: is conducted in unique, custom made computer assisted behavioral boxes, superior to most similar commercially available equipment because they are built to optimize the interaction between animal and equipment. This makes for both efficient and reliable data accumulation.
The catalepsy test: is conducted using the inclined grid test that is reliable and compares equally with data obtained using the ‘bar’ test.
The attentional set-shifting test: is used to assess pro-cognitive drug properties. Drug properties are identified in terms of how well they can reverse specific performance impairment induced by the NMDA-receptor antagonist phencyclidine (PCP). The so called ‘PCP model of schizophrenia’ is currently considered one of the most relevant models for mimicking specific features of attentional impairment in schizophrenia, but can potentially be relevant also for similar symptoms of impairment in dementias.
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Currently going on
Head of WAMA Labs, Dr Marie-Louise Wadenberg is a former Recipient of an Investigator Award from the International Congress of Schizophrenia Research (ICOSR) organization. At a recent ICOSR-meeting (that also invited former Award Recipients to a reunion) in Orlando Florida, Dr Wadenberg presented data on the effects of the Alzheimer drug galantamine (alone and in the presence of low dose antipsychotic risperidone) in the attentional set-shifting test for cognitive functions.
In September, Dr Wadenberg is invited to present experimental data with cholinergic acting drugs, using tests for antipsychotic activity as well as cognitive functioning, at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark featuring several prominent speakers from USA, UK, Italy, Germany, Australia and Denmark.
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