Striving to develop
new therapies for neuroscience diseases
We are focused on providing improved treatments for devastating and life-threatening neuroscience diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. Even the most frequently diagnosed neuroscience diseases often lack adequate treatment options, many of which do not provide meaningful efficacy, pose challenges with adherence, or are associated with unwanted side effects. Addressing these underserved needs and patient communities is the focus of our research and development efforts.
Our approach to developing our therapeutic candidates is predicated on highly specific solutions to the challenges of treating neuroscience diseases that the pharmaceutical industry has attempted to address for years.
Our scientific strategy
Unlocking new treatment opportunities by understanding the neurocircuitry underlying the manifestation of symptoms
Achieving optimal therapeutic benefit and minimizing unintended side effects in neuroscience diseases requires tuning the specificity and dynamic range of neural networks. Recent advancements in chemistry, genomics and proteomics have provided tools to enable a better understanding of the neural networks that underlie these diseases. Fine-tuning the dynamic range requires carefully-designed receptor pharmacology, such as allosteric modulation, to normalize neural network function without over-activation or over-suppression.
Our pipeline
Advancing a broad and diverse neuroscience pipeline
We are advancing a broad and diverse pipeline of small molecule therapies to address significant unmet medical needs and limited treatment options for patients suffering from some of the most devastating neuroscience diseases.
Our pipeline is comprised of multiple preclinical and clinical-stage therapeutic candidates that have the potential to achieve optimal therapeutic activity while minimizing the unintended side effects of currently available therapies.
Compound | Disease Area | Discovery | Pre-clinical | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Mechanism |
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Schizophrenia / Psychosis |
M4 PAM |
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Epilepsy |
GABA a2/3/5 PAM |
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Panic Disorder |
GABA a2/3/5 PAM |
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Early Parkinson’s |
D1/D5 Strong Partial Agonist |
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(adjunct with L-dopa) |
Late Parkinson’s |
D1/D5 Strong Partial Agonist |
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Dementia-Related Apathy |
D1/D5 Partial Agonist |
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CVL-354 |
MDD / Substance Use Disorder |
KOR Antagonist |
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CVL-047 |
MDD/ Schizophrenia |
PDE4 Inhibitor |
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M4 Agonist |
Schizophrenia/ Psychosis |
M4 Agonist |
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LRRK2 Inhibitor |
Parkinson’s |
LRRK2 Inhibitor |
Preclinical programs
In addition to our product candidates in clinical development, we plan to advance our preclinical pipeline across multiple neuroscience indications:
- CVL-354, a selective kappa opiate receptor (KOR) antagonist that we are advancing in substance use disorder
- A PDE4B inhibitor that we are advancing as an antipsychotic agent with the potential to avoid dose-limiting gastrointestinal side effects
- An M4 full agonist for potential use in Parkinson’s-related L-dopa-induced dyskinesia
- A LRRK2 inhibitor that has the potential to address disease progression in Parkinson’s disease
We are pursuing a number of other undisclosed targets, including those with disease-modifying potential. Some of these programs were initiated by Pfizer while others were developed internally at Cerevel Therapeutics through application of human genetic analyses coupled with new technology platforms, such as artificial intelligence and DNA-encoded chemical libraries to establish novel chemical lead series.
We believe our science-based approach will create a leading neuroscience drug discovery and development engine to transform the lives of people living with neuroscience diseases for decades to come.