NEWCASTLE University is part of a pioneering multi-million pound collaboration focused on the development of a treatment to help patients with schizophrenia.

The £3.3 million research project, involving Newcastle, Manchester University and drug company Autifony Therapeutics Limited, is aimed at ensuring that a new drug makes it into clinical trials as part of efforts to help patients with the serious condition.

A key aspect of the project is to look at how the drug, AUT00206, may have the potential to treat positive, cognitive and also negative symptoms of the disease, which would represent a significant breakthrough for schizophrenia patients.

Dr Mark Cunningham and Dr Fiona LeBeau are working together at Newcastle University to carry out a detailed study of the new drug’s mechanisms before clinical trials begin.

“It is very exciting to be involved in this collaborative research project,” said Dr Cunningham, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, and honorary clinical research fellow at Newcastle Hospitals Trust.

“More effective treatments for schizophrenia are required to help improve the outcomes of patients with the condition. We are working to try and understand the way the new drug may influence circuits in the brain to help deal with symptoms of schizophrenia.

It is believed that circuits in the brain of those with schizophrenia are dysfunctional and therefore, if altered, this could help to alleviate debilitating symptoms of the disorder, such as hallucinations, delusions and disorganised speech.

Newcastle University has already been part of a research project which identified the specific molecule to target the new treatment. The multi-million pound funding from the Biomedical Catalyst, Innovate UK and the Medical Research Council is being used to progress the drug into clinical trials.

Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric illness which affects about one in 100 people.