Acadia Pharmaceuticals

Nuplazid, a drug developed by Acadia in the late 1990s, "was designed to stimulate a subset of the brain’s serotonin receptors, or the proteins that govern memory, cognition and learning."^[3] On April 29, 2016, the FDA approved Acadia's drug, Nuplazid, for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis.^[4] Nuplazid is the trade name for Acadia's proprietary molecule, pimavanserin, a selective serotonin inverse agonist preferentially targeting 5-HT2a receptors. Acadia had partnered with Biovail in the late-stage clinical testing of the drug, which showed trial failures as of 2009.^[5][6][7]

Acadia is running multiple Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials with pimavanserin in several central nervous system conditions: dementia-related psychosis,^[8] major depressive disorder,^[9] schizophrenia inadequate response,^[10] and schizophrenia negative symptoms.^[11]

As of 1997^[update], Acadia was among several companies that licensed compounds from Genzyme's small-molecule compound library.^[12]

In 2023, the FDA approved trofinetide (marketed as Daybue) for use in Rett syndrome.^[13]

Acadia started in 1993 as Receptor Technologies, based in Winooski, Vermont.^[14] In 1997, the company relocated all operations and management from Vermont to San Diego, California, as a strategic move to garner partnerships with other biotechnology companies.^[14] However, the company also had an office in Denmark, in which it received a crucial part of its early investments^[14][15] from BankInvest,^[15] under managing director Florian Schönharting,^[16][17][18] Kommunernes Pensionsforsikring A/S^[15] and Dansk Kapitalanlæg Aktieselskab^[15] as well as private investor Lars Christiansen.^[19][15] At the time, the company had fifty employees, fourteen of whom were in the Denmark office.^[14] The focus of the company in its early years was on genetic screens for receptors, aiming to accelerate early stage drug discovery.^[14]

The company planned to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) consisting of 31.6% of the company in 2001, with the intention of raising US$64 million and listing on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol ACAD.^[20] At the time, Acadia and Allergan were collaborating on development of a treatment for glaucoma, and Allergan would retain a 6.3% ownership stake in Acadia after the IPO.^[20] However, the company's IPO, which ultimately took place in May 2004,^[7] did not fare as well as expected and netted only US$35 million.^[21] At the time, the company had five drugs in development and was running two in human trials.^[22] The company had a subsequent round of stock offering in May 2007 which raised US$102 million.^[23]

In September 2020, Acadia Pharmaceuticals acquired clinical-stage biotechnology company CerSci Therapeutics.^[24]