ABOUT - History

Based on the discovery of calcineurin's role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, Galenea was founded in 2003 by Professor Susumu Tonegawa at MIT and Professor Maria Karayiorgou at Columbia University Medical Center (formerly at The Rockefeller University).

In January 2005, Galenea and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. entered into a research and development collaboration and license agreement. With the goal of discovering pioneering therapies for schizophrenia and related disorders, the partnership focuses on identifying clinical candidates that modulate targets in the calcineurin pathway. Based on the early success of several programs within the collaboration, the initial five-year alliance was significantly broadened and extended in October 2008.

Along with these proprietary calcineurin pathway programs, Galenea had an exclusive license to RNA interference (RNAi) technology developed in the laboratory of MIT Professor Jianzhu Chen, another Galenea founding scientist. Dr. Chen received his PhD from Stanford University and today is also an adjunct professor and co-director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Chen established a program at Galenea centered on utilizing RNAi to treat respiratory disease, with an initial focus on influenza. In 2006, Galenea made the strategic decision to concentrate exclusively on CNS programs and the company completed the sale of this program to a leading RNAi company.

In October 2008, Galenea added to its pipeline by in-licensing a series of 5-HT2C agonists for the treatment of obesity and other related disorders. Galenea obtained exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize these novel compounds from Organix, Inc. and its academic collaborators, Tufts University School of Medicine, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Case Western Reserve University.

About Our Name

Claudius Galenus (AD 129 - 200), better known as Galen of Pergamum was a prominent Greek physician. He is credited with being an originator of the field of anatomy and his emphasis on bloodletting as a remedy for almost any ailment remained influential for well over a millennium. By detecting that a woman's pulse rate increased when the name of the man she loved was mentioned, Galen was the first to use measurement of pulse as a diagnosis. The word galenea in Greek means “inner peace”.