Prof. Maciej Małecki and Dr Adrian Newman-Tancredi have signed a bilateral strategic cooperation agreement between the Jagiellonian University Medical College and Neurolixis company. The collaboration will be primarily focused on searching for a new generation of medicines used in the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, such as depression or schizophrenia. The research will be conducted by several teams from the JU MC Faculty of Pharmacy in cooperation with Neurolixis scientists.

Dr Adrian Newman-Tancredi, the Chief Scientific Officer of Neurolixis said: "We are delighted to initiate this collaboration with the research team at the Jagiellonian University Medical College. By combining the expertise of both groups, we believe this collaboration will provide novel drug treatments to address unmet disorders of the CNS."

Prof. Anna Wesołowska, the JU Faculty of Pharmacy Vice-Dean for Research and International Relations added: "The Faculty of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University Medical College has expertise in organic chemistry and CNS pharmacology, and Neurolixis is a rapidly-expanding bioscience company. We believe that this combination forms an excellent basis for a successful drug discovery partnership in the areas of mood disorders and psychoses."

The agreement specifies the conditions under which the company is granted the license to commercialise the research results. The JU Centre for Innovation, Technology Transfer and University Development took active part in the negotiations, which also concerned such issues as the rights to research results and the sharing of the commercialisation income.

Neurolixis is a California-based biotechnology company working on novel methods of treatment of central nervous system disorders. It focuses on developing small molecule drugs to treat neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and Rett syndrome, as well as psychiatric disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia.