The McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development, LLC (MSRD), a member of the global Otsuka family of pharmaceutical companies, announces today that it has entered an agreement with Sentinel Oncology (Sentinel), a drug discovery company.

The McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development at Otsuka in the U.S. will support the clinical development of a first-in-class therapeutic with the potential to treat Fragile X syndrome (FXS), a rare, genetic condition that causes intellectual disability, behavioral and learning challenges, and various physical characteristics¹.

Under the terms of the agreement, MSRD and Sentinel will collaborate to support the Phase 1a and Phase 1b clinical trials for Sentinel’s investigational compound SOL784 with the opportunity to expand the collaboration after those studies.

“Although there are treatment options for the symptoms of Fragile X syndrome available today, none have been approved by regulatory authorities to address the underlying cause of this rare genetic disorder,” said Robert McQuade, PhD, president, McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development, LLC, and chief strategic officer, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. “Our two organizations share like-minded missions of delivering treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. We are hopeful that our collaboration can lead to the development of a potential therapeutic for people living with this condition.”

“We are delighted to be collaborating with the MSRD team to advance SOL784 into clinical development” said Robert G Boyle, founder and CEO of Sentinel Oncology. “SOL784 targets the underlying disease biology of FXS and we are excited for the prospects of a drug which has the potential to provide real benefits to patients for whom there is an unmet medical need”

About Fragile X Syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a rare, genetic condition that causes intellectual disability, behavioral and learning challenges, and various physical characteristics. Though FXS occurs in both genders, males are more frequently affected than females, and generally with greater severity. FXS has been detected in all populations and ethnic groups. While researchers do not have an exact number for how many Americans (males and females) could have full-mutation Fragile X syndrome, estimates range between as few as 38,000 to as high as 87,000 people living with the condition.¹

About Sentinel Oncology

Sentinel Oncology is a drug discovery company dedicated to the development of novel therapeutics to treat patients for whom there is currently an unmet medical need. The company has a focus on Neuro-Oncology with a suite of brain penetrant drug candidates and a mission to increase survival and improve outcomes for cancer patients with CNS tumours.

About McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development (MSRD)

Established in 2019 by the Otsuka pharmaceutical business in the U.S., the mission of MSRD is to search for, identify, and fund innovative early-stage research and development programs that have the potential to build the future portfolio of Otsuka products.

Otsuka is dedicated to investing in innovative and creative products in areas of unmet need and MSRD was created as an extension of this commitment to support and identify early-stage opportunities that can change the landscape of treatments for mental illness and renal disorders. For more information, please visit https://msrd-us.com/.

About Otsuka

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a global healthcare company with the corporate philosophy: “Otsuka–people creating new products for better health worldwide.” Otsuka researches, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative products, with a focus on pharmaceutical products to meet unmet medical needs and nutraceutical products for the maintenance of everyday health.

In pharmaceuticals, Otsuka is a leader in the challenging areas of mental, renal, and cardiovascular health and has additional research programs in oncology and on several under-addressed diseases including tuberculosis, a significant global public health issue. These commitments illustrate how Otsuka is a “big venture” company at heart, applying a youthful spirit of creativity in everything it does.

Otsuka established a presence in the U.S. in 1973 and today its U.S. affiliates include Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. (OPDC) and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (OAPI). These two companies’ 1,700 employees in the U.S. develop and commercialize medicines in the areas of mental health, nephrology, and cardiology, using cutting-edge technology to address unmet healthcare needs.

OPDC and OAPI are indirect subsidiaries of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The Otsuka group of companies employed 47,000 people worldwide and had consolidated sales of approximately USD 13.3 billion in 2020.

All Otsuka stories start by taking the road less traveled. Learn more about Otsuka in the U.S. at www.otsuka-us.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter at @OtsukaUS. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.’s global website is accessible at www.otsuka.co.jp/en/.

^{1 https://fragilex.org/understanding-fragile-x/fragile-x-syndrome/}

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