Swiss group Addex Therapeutics has joined a UK-based initiative established to study the role of the D1 receptor, the main dopamine receptor, in human brain function.

The group has received a £1.2 million grant from the Wellcome Trust for manufacture of ADX10061, a selective dopamine D1 antagonist which it will provided for The Human Drug and Brain Research (THuNDR2) initiative, a collaboration between UK neuroscientists, drug development experts and the firm.

“THuNDR2 is a landmark biomedical resource funded by Wellcome that will provide a much needed boost to human experimental neuroscience both in the UK and across the world for many years to come,” explained Prof Nutt.

“Securing Addex permission for access to ADX10061 was vital for our success and we believe will allow us to advance exponentially our understanding of dopamine’s function in the brain and effect on human health.”

ADX10061 will also be made available to other UK and international psychopharmacology researchers and included in the ECNP Medicines Chest, an initiative by the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) to provide researchers access to pharmacological tools to support human experimental medicine studies.

In return for supplying access to ADX10061 and its regulatory, clinical data package, Addex gains access to data generated from associated research studies.

“Addex is eager to play an active role in moving forward our understanding of the importance of dopamine which may lead to us identifying a development path for ADX10061,” commented Robert Lütjens, PhD, head of discovery at the firm.