PsychoGenics Introduces eCube, an AI-Driven Platform for Drug Discovery in Neuropsychiatric Disorders

PsychoGenics, a prominent player in AI-enabled phenotypic drug discovery and preclinical CRO services, has recently unveiled eCube, an innovative pharmaco-electroencephalography (pharmacoEEG) platform designed to enhance phenotypic drug discovery. By employing machine learning algorithms, eCube has the potential to identify compounds that can penetrate the central nervous system (CNS) and predict their therapeutic applications for neuropsychiatric disorders. The platform achieves this by comparing EEG profiles of novel compounds to an extensive pharmacoEEG database containing hundreds of doses of CNS-active reference drugs.

eCube's primary function is to measure drug-induced changes in EEG spectra data and apply machine learning classifiers, trained on reference drugs, to predict the efficacy of new compounds at both the drug class and subclass levels. This allows for the identification of primary therapeutic indications and primary mechanisms of action. Furthermore, eCube can offer translational biomarkers, which serve as an objective method for evaluating CNS activity, a crucial aspect when dealing with compounds that have unknown or complex mechanisms of action.

The eCube platform complements PsychoGenics' existing AI-driven phenotypic platforms, including SmartCube, which has successfully advanced multiple compounds into clinical trials. Among these is Ulotaront, a compound developed in collaboration with Sunovion, which is currently in Phase 3 trials for schizophrenia, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder.

Dani Brunner, Chief Innovation Officer at PsychoGenics, remarked that eCube provides a unique translational tool for target-agnostic compound screening and lead generation. The platform's reference EEG databases and analytical machine learning tools enable the prediction of therapeutic efficacy and the quantification of similarity between EEG spectra and other CNS drugs. This cutting-edge platform can validate therapeutic predictions made by behavior-based platforms, identify neuronal circuitry, and offer translational biomarkers to bolster clinical development.

PsychoGenics, which encompasses PsychoGenics Inc. and PGI Drug Discovery LLC, has been a pioneer in translating rodent behavioral and physiological responses into high-throughput, high-content phenotyping. Its drug discovery platforms, such as SmartCube, NeuroCube, and PhenoCube, have resulted in several novel compounds entering clinical trials or advanced preclinical development through shared-risk partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies like Sunovion, Roche, and Karuna. With the addition of eCube, PsychoGenics continues to expand its portfolio of AI for drug discovery, pushing the boundaries of research in neuropsychiatric disorders.