Nuplazid, a drug developed by Acadia in the late 1990's, "was designed to stimulate a subset of the brain’s serotonin receptors, or the proteins that govern memory, cognition and learning." On April 29, 2016, the FDA approved Acadia's drug, Nuplazid, for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis. 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. Acadia is running multiple Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials with pimavanserin in several central nervous system conditions: dementia-related psychosis, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia inadequate response, and schizophrenia negative symptoms. , Acadia was among several companies that licensed compounds from Genzyme's small-molecule compound library.
History
Acadia started in 1993 as Receptor Technologies, based in Winooski, Vermont. 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. However, the company also had an office in Denmark, and the country was an important early source of investment. At the time, the company had fifty employees, fourteen of whom were in the Denmark office. The focus of the company in its early years was on genetic screens for receptors, aiming to accelerate early stage drug discovery. The company planned to conduct an Initial public offeringconsisting of 31.6% of the company in 2001, with the intention of raising and listing on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol ACAD. 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. However, the company's IPO, which ultimately took place in May 2004, did not fare as well as expected and netted only. At the time, the company had five drugs in development and was running two in human trials. The company had a subsequent round of stock offering in May 2007 which raised.
