Cognision has entered a partnership with Kynexis to deploy its COGNISION® System—an EEG/event-related potential (ERP) biomarker platform—in a Phase 2 clinical trial of KYN-5356 in people with cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS). The trial is designed to show proof of concept by linking cognitive changes after drug or placebo treatment with objective neurophysiological biomarkers.
KYN-5356 is a first-in-class inhibitor of the KAT-II enzyme, which plays a role in the kynurenine metabolic pathway implicated in brain dysfunction in schizophrenia. By measuring brain-wave activity before and after dosing, Cognision’s system will help assess whether treatment with KYN-5356 modulates neural processing in ways that correlate with improvements in cognition.
Cognision’s EEG/ERP technology enables real-time measurement of neural function, and the company said this could offer early markers of drug response. Kynexis, for its part, believes this biomarker-driven approach will deepen understanding of how KYN-5356 affects brain biology and cognitive outcomes, ultimately better linking clinical assessments with underlying mechanism.
The COGNISION® System is also used in a broader precompetitive consortium focused on standardizing neurophysiological biomarker methods across CNS drug development. The Phase 2 schizophrenia trial builds on prior validation of ERP measures in schizophrenia populations, enhancing its relevance to assessing treatment impact.
