The DIA Annual Meeting represents the most significant means for advancing our objectives via our multidisciplinary focus, international reach, and neutral forums. The 44th Annual Meeting offered innovative ideas, provided answers to new questions, and helped the pharmaceutical industry redefine the development, regulation, surveillance, and marketing of pharmaceuticals.

Visit CDR at booth # 256 'Test The Age of Your Brain and enter our FREE prize draw to win a Nintendo DSLite™ with Brain Training game at ICAD 2008 - Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease on 26th - 30th July, Chicago, USA

Professor Keith Wesnes, Steve Satek and Brian Saxby all of CDR will be presenting posters on the following;

The Role Of Nicotinic Receptors In Human Cognitive Function.

Identifying Cognitive Enhancement In Man: Adding Testing To Routine Phase I Trials.

Identifying Cognitive Enhancement In Man: Identifying Efficacy In The Dementias.

Identifying Cognitive Enhancement In Man: Models And Pharmacodynamic Trials In Volunteers

Identifying Cognitive Enhancement In Man: Showing Benefits in Conditions in which Cognitive Deficits are Secondary.

A Computerized Cognitive Assessment System as an Alternative to the ADAS-cog in Dementia Trials.

ICAD is the world's leading forum on dementia research. Join more than 5,000 world-renowned researchers for an invited program not to be missed.

If you would like to meet with the CDR team at ICAD 2008 Click Here. If you wish to register for this event Click Here

Professor Keith Wesnes, Steve Satek and Nicole Meinel from CDR will be presenting posters discussing "The Identification of Cognitive Enhancement in Man" on 13-17 July 2008 in Munich, Germany.

The Scientific Programme will cover all aspects of treatment of CNS disorders from basic to clinical research, and the newest concepts for improving the life of patients with mental and neurological disorders will be presented. Through symposia, poster sessions, educational workshops and meet the expert sessions, the Congress will bring together basic and clinical scientists from around the world. In addition, highly interesting scientific symposia, satellite events and ex-hibitions will be organized by pharmaceutical companies, offering new and valuable information to the audience.

To register for this event Click Here or to meet with a CDR Representative at CINP 2008 Click Here

The IXth World Conference on Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 27th July - 1st August - Québec, Canada

CDR will be exhibiting at booth # 102 and presenting the following poster;
"Translational Medicine: Benefits of Computerized Cognitive Function Assessment in Routine Phase I Safety and Tolerability Trials of Cognition Enhancers" 

The World Conference on Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics is an international meeting held every four years as a forum for clinical and basic pharmacologists from universities, hospitals, government laboratories, as well as from regulatory bodies and the pharmaceutical industry (including Biotech, CRO and other service companies).

For CPT 2008 in Québec City, 2500 physicians, pharmacists, researchers, university professors and graduate students from all over the world are expected to attend.

To meet with the CDR Team at CPT 2008 Click Here. To register for this event Click Here.

Professor Keith Wesnes, Steve Satek and Patrick Turk of CDR each presented posters discussing "The Identification of Cognitive Enhancement in Man" at The 48th Annual NCDEU Meeting, 27-30 May - Scottsdale, AZ, USA

The NCDEU Meeting was a scientific conference that brought together academic researchers from multiple disciplines involved in clinical trials, practicing psychologists, research pharmacists, nurses, and social workers, as well as investigators with the pharmaceutical industry, and representatives from NIMH/NIH and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In addition to the meeting's central focus was on the latest developments in psychopharmacologic clinical research and related methodology, the meeting program expanded to encourage presentations on a broad range of interventional, translational, drug and other treatment development, and economic and policy research to increase the impact of psychopharmacology trials. The program emphasized the presentation of information that has not been published or presented in the past.

The NCDEU meeting continued to provide a forum for multidisciplinary approaches and crosstalk among basic neuroscientists, clinical researchers, and services researchers. In addition, the meeting  addressed a number of timely issues relevant to clinical research in psychiatry, such as the translation of research findings into practice, the importance of regulatory issues, and pharmacogenetics.

To view that posters that were presented by CDR email enquiries@cdr.eu.com

Two of the streams this year focused on companies with products in either pre-clinical or clinical trial stages. These were of particular interest to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, venture capital companies and CROs. Having over 60 biotechnology companies presenting in one day makes EPIC a cost-effective day of evaluating companies for investment. The very popular University Challenge session again features along with one for Platform Technologies and Diagnostics.

The Second Annual Exploratory Clinical Development Congress followed the huge success of the 2007 meeting where a record number of early development scientists explored the challenges of Phase I Trials.

In 2008, early development remains at a critical stage. The transition to first in man has crucial regulatory, scientific and operational issues that need to be confronted head on in order to avoid high costs and high profile product failures. Safety concerns continue to dominate and following recommendations from the ESG Working Group, the ABPI has revised its guidelines for Phase I trials.

The second annual Exploratory Clinical Development Congress addressed the critical issues in achieving seamless first in man studies and will also provide advice on how to conduct effective
studies that allow you to make the right decision early on in clinical development.

CDR attended the American Psychiatric Associations 161st Annual Meeting  on 3rd - 8th May, Washington, DC, USA. 

Washington, DC, was the site for the 2008 APA Annual Meeting. In addition to a wide variety of scientific offerings, the meeting provided a unique opportunity to meet with colleagues from around the world. The Scientific Program Committee had selected an outstanding group of cutting-edge scientific presentations from submissions that were of extremely high quality.
There was three presidential symposia presented on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons. There was numerous scientific presentations related to the theme and invited lecturers to
discuss various aspects of psychiatric practice, psychiatric education, and research. Special efforts were made to provide opportunities to learn more about and further discuss changes in the U.S. health care delivery system. An entire track of sessions, presented in collaboration with the National Institute on Mental Health, had been scheduled throughout the meeting.

CDR attended as delegates and Professor Keith Wesnes presented on "The Use of The CDR System, an Automated Test System for Assessing Cognitive Function in Drug Development" on 3rd May 2008, Washington, DC, USA.

The annual scientific meeting was held in conjunction with the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting. It included interesting presentations, electronic posters and an opportunity to learn, exchange ideas and collaborate with colleagues.

For more details Click Here.

CDR exhibited and Professor Keith Wesnes presented on "Leverage the Value Cognitive Testing Brings to Phase I and II" in Arlington, VA, USA April 30th - May 1st 2008.

The presentation from Professor Wesnes provided case examples of the value cognitive testing can bring to Phase I and Phase II trials to provide evidence of cognition enhancement which will help guide future drug development, help identify proof of concept and facilitate licensing deals in a variety of CNS indications.

We are delighted to announce that Crystal Haskell, one of Professor Keith Wesnes' PhD students, has recently been awarded her PhD from Northumbria University. Crystal was sponsored by CDR and used the CDR System to examine the biobehavioural effects of caffeine in isolation as well as in combination.

The findings of her thesis show that there are cognitive and mood benefits of caffeine which are not simply due to a reversal of withdrawal effects in regular caffeine users. Several studies also demonstrated psychostimulant properties of guaraná (an extract of a South American berry), but a comparison of this with caffeine suggested that these effects were not soley due to the caffeine content of guaraná. Modulation of the effects of caffeine was also observed in a study examining the effects of combining caffeine with L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea. The results showed that combining caffeine with L-theanine led to an enhancement of the effects of caffeine.

Crystal has to date published three papers employing the CDR System:

Haskell, C. F., D. O. Kennedy, et al. (2005). "Cognitive and mood improvements of caffeine in habitual consumers and habitual non-consumers of caffeine." Psychopharmacology 179(4): 813-25.

Haskell, C. F., D. O. Kennedy, et al. (2007). "A double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-dose evaluation of the acute behavioural effects of guarana in humans." J Psychopharmacol 21(1): 65-70.

Haskell C.F., Kennedy DO, Milne AL, Wesnes KA, Scholey AB. “The effects of L-theanine, caffeine and their combination on cognition and mood.” Biological Psychology; 77 (2): 113-22

If you are considering The CDR System to further your career or for any sponsored or collaborative enquiries, please email enquiries@cognitivedrugresearch.com

CDR attended one of the world's largest gatherings of neurology professionals, which brought together more than 10,000 neurologists and neuroscientists to share groundbreaking research and participate in a comprehensive curriculum-based educational program: The 60th AAN Annual Meeting, April 12–19, 2008  Chicago, USA

The AAN Annual Meeting brought together more than 10,000 neuroscience professionals for one of the world's largest neurology gatherings. It has long been a leading showcase for the latest developments in scientific research, and the place to honor peers at the forefront of this work.
Opportunities in neuroscience include:

• Scientific Program Abstracts : Groundbreaking Scientific Program featuring over 1,600 abstracts on over 20 topics in clinical and basic science research.

• Plenary Sessions: Five premier Plenary Sessions feature lectures by esteemed investigators discussing critical advances in neuroscience.

• Scientific Topic Highlights: Highlights present the best research in select neurological topics from over 1,600 scientific poster and platform presentations.

• Late-Breaking Science: The most current research by neurologists, neuroscientists, and other eligible researchers whose work is of major scientific importance or interest and warrants expedited presentation and publication.

• Future of Neuroscience Conference: Neural Repair: A day-long scientific symposium that appeals to both clinical neurologists and neuroscientists. The program will feature invited speakers in the field as well as relevant abstracts.

• Integrated Neuroscience: An expansive look at Autism, Genetics of Epilepsy, Tropical Neurology, New Methods in Imaging, Stroke Imaging and Emerging Therapies, and Mitochondria in Diseases.

Last year over 500 partnering meetings brought together more than 400 delegates from nearly 300 companies to discuss over 185 licensing opportunities. And this year the event was even bigger: for example, companies booked to present at BioTrinity 2008 Oxford had 33 compounds in pre-clinical development and 25 in clinical development, excluding big pharma participants. Add to that access to networking receptions, international panel discussions, company showcases and essential workshops all promised to make this the “must attend” event of the year.

Prof Keith Wesnes presented at the 3rd International Congress on Complementary Medicine Research  ‘ICCMR 2008', Sydney, Australia, 29 to 31 March 2008.

The title of his talk “Neurocognitive effects of herbal medicines: Two decades of clinical trials”, was presented at the following symposium: “Herbal medicines for brain and behaviour: from bench to bedside”

Also speaking at the symposium were Professors Andrew Scholey and Con Stough, of the Brian Sciences Institute, Melbourne, where Professor Wesnes was appointed Adjunct Professor last November. During his stay, Keith worked with Con and Andrew on a number of national initiatives and research grants, and finalized the plans for the CDR laboratory in the custom built building the Institute will occupy later this year. The building will also house the Institute’s new fMRI scanner and Magneto EEG, and will become a leading centre for studying cognitive function in Australia.

For further information on ICCMR 2008 click here.

CDR attended The Insititute of Clinical Research - 29th Annual Conference & Exhibition 2008 8th & 9th April at the ICC, Birmingham, UK.

CDR exhibited at booth number 110 and Steve Satek presented on "The Use of Cognitive Function Testing To Identify Potential Cognition Enhancers In Phase I: Case Histories of Translational Medicine" on April 02-05 2008, Orlando, Florida USA.

Over 1,200 professionals in the field of clinical pharmacology attend the ASCPT Annual Meeting, which features comprehensive state-of-the-art lectures, first-class scientific symposia and workshops. In addition, over 325 poster presentations highlight the most recent advances in pharmacology and therapeutics.

Click Here to view Steve Satek's presentation on "The Use of Cognitive Function Testing To Identify Potential Cognition Enhancers In Phase I: Case Histories of Translational Medicine"

Brian Saxby, Head of Science at CDR, presented at The CNS Drug Development Summit on 2-3 April 2008, City Conference Centre, London, UK. 

The title of his talk was "Computerised cognitive testing in clinical trials of dementia prevention and cognitive decline: hypertension and stroke"

His talk covered the following areas:

• •EMEA draft guidelines for treatment of AD and other dementias: cognitive outcomes
• •The Cognitive Drug Research computerised assessment battery
• •Primary prevention strategies
• •Hypertension: results from the SCOPE cognitive substudy
• •Stroke: the ongoing PRoFESS-COG study

For further details or to contact Brian Saxby Click Here

DIA's 20th Annual EuroMeeting was global in scope, attracting more than 3,000 industry professionals from over 50 countries. Europe's annual flagship event offered timely and relevant session topics, continuing education, networking opportunities, and access to the bigger than ever exhibit hall.

This one-of-a-kind meeting brought together professionals from the biopharmaceutical industry, contract service organizations, academic research centers, and regulatory agencies. This convergence affords attendees the opportunity to network with professional colleagues from around the world. With more than 100 sessions and 10 themes, the annual event covered a variety of cross-disciplinary topics—from regulatory to health economics.

Industry professionals can become a DIA member and attend the future DIA events at a reduced price. 

To register now Click Here

The Hong Kong/Springfield Pan-Asian Symposium on Advances in Alzheimer Therapy was held at the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel, Hong Kong on 28th February - 1st March 2008

To view the poster click here

Scientific knowledge, quality of test battery and breadth of experience cited as key reasons. 

A survey by a prominent U.S. marketing firm confirms that industry professionals prefer Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) for cognitive assessment studies.

A survey by a prominent U.S. marketing firm confirms that industry professionals prefer Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) for cognitive assessment studies.

            The overwhelming majority had used CDR for past studies and had chosen them based on:

• Scientific knowledge and expertise
• Quality of the test battery for the specific disease being tested
• Past experience with the specific disease state being tested

            When asked who they viewed as the market leader in cognitive assessment, a similarly large percentage named CDR.

            Why do professionals prefer CDR? Here are some of their specific comments:

“CDR has a long history in cognitive assessment as well as an impressive portfolio of studies, past clients and databases. In addition to that, we use CDR because of their reliability and the ease of flow of their system.”

n      International CRO

“CDR is very efficient. That, combined with their reputation and experience, is why we selected them for our last cognitive study.”

n      Major pharmaceutical manufacturer

“CDR is definitely an industry leader in Phase I and nicotinic studies as evidenced by the significant amount of published data CDR has available in these areas.”

n      Major pharmaceutical manufacturer

“We use CDR because they are the best.”

n      Major pharmaceutical manufacturer

# # #

CDR were extremely proud to be selected alongside full service CROs in recognition of the services they provide in addition to cognitive testing - from protocol development, site training, 24h service, statistics and reporting to presentation of findings. These service assets set CDR apart from other test providers.

Amarin Corporation Plc have announced the commencement of a Phase IIa trial in Age Associated Memory Impairment (AAMI) with AMR101 (ultra-pure ethyl-EPA).

The trial will be a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The trial will enroll 96 patients with AAMI who will be randomised to receive 1, 2 or 4 grams of AMR101 or placebo twice daily over a six-week period.

A press release on 10th January 2008 highlighted that: 'Efficacy will be assessed by a computerised battery of cognition tests designed by Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) Ltd, a world leader in the provision of innovative cognitive function assessment technology'.

The study is being conducted in the U.K. and patient recruitment is expected to commence shortly, with initial results expected in the second half of 2008.

For more information about this exciting new trial please visit Biospace news.

Brian Saxby, Scientific Development Manager, spoke at the conference in the Lake District (3rd-5th September) about the relationship between blood biomarkers and cognitive recovery after cardiac surgery, assessed using the CDR System.

In addition, Brian presented two posters: the scopolamine model of dementia, validated against clinical rating scales using an effect size methodology; and a responder analysis of epoetin alfa treatment in chemotherapy for the EPOLYM Investigators.

Please click here to view Brian's oral presentation.

Time to move forward: Computerised cognitive assessments come of age in dementia research. The International Working Group on Dementia Drug Guidelines (Ferris et al, 1997) concluded that computerised cognitive testing may supersede the ADAS if advantages were established. The CDR Computersied Assessment System has been in use in worldwide dementia drug trials for over 20 years and has a number of advantages over the ADAS including the ability to assess attention and information processing. Its utility, reliability, validity, sensitivity, clinical and everyday relevance will be described. The CDR System has shown high sensitivity to cognitive benefits in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lewy Body Dementia and is currently being used as the primary outcome variable in several early trials of nicotinic agonists in Alzheimer's disease.

This timely inaugural summit examined the latest disease modifying therapies and pre-symptomatic approaches for Alzheimer's. Topics included: Key market barriers of Alzheimer's drug development, the importance of translational medicine in AD drug development, the public and private partnership role in the NIH ADNI project and much more!

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: LXRX) has announced that dosing has commenced in a Phase 2a clinical trial with LX6171, an oral drug candidate for the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and vascular dementia.

The initial stage of the trial will assess the bioavailability of a new oral-suspension formulation in healthy elderly subjects with a second stage evaluating safety, tolerability and cognitive effects in elderly subjects with age-associated memory impairment (AAMI).

"AAMI is an emerging area of clinical research and offers an expedient population for obtaining proof-of-concept with a drug candidate, like LX6171, that has a broad range of potential applications in the area of cognitive disorders," said Philip M. Brown, M.D., J.D., vice president of clinical development at Lexicon. "Following the strength of the Phase 1 data indicating LX6171 is generally well tolerated, we have adopted a two-stage strategy for Phase 2a in order to transition to our new oral suspension formulation and to assess for improvements in a variety of cognitive dimensions as we enter the elderly population."

Phase 2 Study Design

The initial stage of the trial will assess the bioavailability of a single-dose oral suspension in 16 healthy elderly subjects. The second stage will be a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled evaluation of safety, tolerability, and cognitive effects in approximately 120 subjects over four weeks. This stage is anticipated to include three groups of 40 subjects each, exploring two dose levels with a placebo control. Exact dose levels for the second stage will be set based on evaluation from the first stage pharmacokinetic study using the new formulation. The second stage will evaluate the safety and tolerability of LX6171 oral suspension in subjects exhibiting AAMI and will measure the cognitive effects of LX6171 in these subjects using the Cognitive Drug Research battery, along with other psychometric instruments. The study is being conducted in Europe, with initial results expected by the end of 2008.

About LX6171

LX6171 is an orally-bioavailable small molecule developed by Lexicon scientists to inhibit a membrane protein expressed exclusively in the central nervous system and found at synaptic vesicles and presynaptic membranes of glutamatergic neurons. The protein targeted by LX6171 was identified through Lexicon's large-scale gene knockout program, the Genome5000T. Knockout mice lacking this protein showed improved learning and memory compared with controls. In preclinical studies, administration of LX6171 resulted in improved performance in tests of learning and memory in mice. In Phase 1 clinical trials, LX6171 was generally well tolerated at all dose levels and showed good systemic exposure.

About Lexicon

Lexicon is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of breakthrough treatments for human disease. Lexicon currently has clinical programs underway for such areas of major unmet medical need as irritable bowel syndrome, cognitive disorders, and rheumatoid arthritis. The company has used its proprietary gene knockout technology to discover more than 100 promising drug targets and create an extensive pipeline of clinical and preclinical programs in the therapeutic areas of diabetes and obesity, cardiovascular disease, psychiatric and neurological disorders, cancer, immune system disorders and ophthalmic disease. To advance the development and commercialization of its programs, Lexicon is working both independently and through collaborators including Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Genentech, Inc. and N.V. Organon. For additional information about Lexicon and its programs, please visit the company's web site www.lexpharma.com

Professor Keith Wesnes chaired Day 1 and spoke at SMi's Clinical Trials in CNS Conference in London on 26th & 27th November 2007.

The title of his talk was "Cognitive testing in drug development: latest developments and hot topics"

The talk covered the following areas:

Automated equivalents to the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery

• Selective nicotinic agonists for cognition enhancement
• ‘Wakefulness’: a new therapeutic target
• Is there a viable automated alternative to the ADAS?
• Cognitive testing in translational medicine comes of age

Professor Wesnes was joined at this event by our Vice President of Business Development (US & Canada) Steve Satek and our Head of Business Development (Europe & Asia) Mark Cusack.

To hear more about Keith's presentation please do contact Mark or Steve.

CDR exhibited at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists annual meeting and exposition in San Diego, CA on 11th - 15th November 2007. This 21^st annual meeting of the AAPS was the world’s largest gathering of pharmaceutical scientists.  The event was a huge success, with many people gathering at the CDR stand to try their hand in our Reaction Time Challenge to win a state of the art iPhone!

On November 2, 2007 - Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp. announced positive top-line data from the randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center Phase 2a proof-of-concept trial of MEM 3454. The CDR System was used as a primary endpoint in this 80-patient, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. To read the full press release please click here.

CDR’s Scientific Operations Manager, Catherine Deeprose, gave an interesting and informative talk at this years Pain Therapeutics conference in London on Thursday 1^st November, 2007. The title of Catherine's talk was 'PAIN, PAIN THERAPIES AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION'. 

CDR exhibited at the 6th Annual Partnerships in Clinical Trials (PCT) held in Amsterdam on 5th - 8th November 2007. PCT is the largest gathering of Clinical Trials Outsourcing professionals in Europe. The event was a real success and sessions were interesting and informative. CDR look forward to next years PCT!

CDR is currently involved in a pivotal Phase II trial to investigate the benefits of Glypromate in reducing cognitive impairment in cardiac surgery patients.

The trial is being run in the US, Australia and New Zealand and is a double blind placebo controlled study, run in 600 patients.

The trial is running well and CDR is looking forward to assisting Neuren in reaching their FDA approval of this powerful compound.

To learn more please click here

A study in the October issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics found that patients who developed urge urinary incontinence after stroke had poorer CDR Power of Attention and Speed of Memory scores than those that remained continent. Patients with impaired awareness of the need to void performed poorest of all. In regression analyses, Continuity of Attention and impaired awareness were the strongest predictors of poor outcome after 1 year.

The study was conducted in collaboration with the Newcastle 85+ Study team at Newcastle University as a pilot to determine the most suitable measures for an ambitious MRC/BBSRC longitudinal study of 800 participants into the determinants of successful ageing. Eighty-one community-dwelling 85 year-olds were randomly assigned to receive cognitive assessments using the CDR computerised assessment system or pencil-and-paper tasks from the WAIS III.

Participants assessed using CDR assessments were less likely to rate the cognitive testing as difficult, stressful or unacceptable; similarly, administrators were less likely to rate participants as distressed, highlighted as an important factor in reducing study attrition. The study demonstrates that computerised testing is both feasible and valid in the oldest old. CDR Ltd is delighted to be selected as the cognitive test provider for the main NE85+ study.

A recently launched advertising campaign for Rice Krispies, the well known children’s breakfast cereal, demonstrates CDR’s excellent results in a breakfast study held in the UK in 2003. Read on to find out more…….

Confirming that children who eat breakfast every morning tend to perform better at school, Jo Frost, TV’s SuperNanny, endorses the research conducted by CDR. Visit the Kellogg’s website to learn more: click here

To request a copy of the associated published paper (Wesnes, K.A., Pincock, C., Richardson, D., Helm, G., Hails S. (2003) Breakfast reduces declines in attention and memory over the morning in schoolchildren) please email enquiries@cognitivedrugresearch.com.

Professor Keith Wesnes spoke at this exciting event on the 6-7th September 2007 in London. With a focus on the early use of cognitive testing being a predictor of outcomes in later phase studies, this talk interested all who attended. For details of the talk please read on........

·        Case studies from Phase I safety trials in which cognitive testing has predicted to Phase II and onwards

·        Phase Ib & IIa opportunities for proof of concept

·        Examples of Phase II studies where cognitive testing has supported the transition to Phase III and on

·        The opportunity to use cognitive testing to support Phase IV

Professor Wesnes was joined by Mark Cusack, Head of Business Development. To hear more about the event and to find out more about CDR, please contact Mark.

The paper published in the 14 July issue of The Lancet is one of two addressing the challenges of prescribing for the elderly.