NeoBrain Pharma Inc.

NeoBrain Pharma Inc. (“NBPI” or the “Company”) is a start-up small-molecule drug discovery company focused on treating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). The Company’s pipeline consists of three drug discovery programs, each targeting markets with significant unmet medical needs exceeding one billion dollars. The Company’s lead candidate drug, targeting neuropathic and inflammatory pain should enter clinical trials in 2009; other drug development programs for anxiety and opioid tolerance are expected to follow in 2010 and 2011.

The Company’s drug discovery technology platform is centered on molecular targets predominantly expressed in the CNS. This restricted expression profile should reduce the ability of targeted drugs to interact with non-CNS tissues, thus reducing potential side-effects. The molecular targets have been well characterized in the scientific literature but their use in drug discovery efforts has been limited to date.

The Company’s lead candidate drug, NB001, inhibits a critical enzyme involved in mediating pain signals of both neural and non-neuronal origin. This enzyme is expressed predominantly in a region of the brain that is responsible for processing pain pathways. It is expected that NB001 should provide significant improvements over existing therapies with regard to efficacy and side-effect profile.

NBPI has obtained an exclusive option to license an intellectual property portfolio including five patent families that protect NB001 and other chemical entities, the novel use of key CNS-specific molecular targets, and animal models for pain, from The University of Toronto Innovations Foundation.

NBPI was founded by the Innovations at University of Toronto and Professor Min Zhuo.

Konrad Powell-Jones has been retained by Innovations at University of Toronto to provide interim management for NBPI until the appropriate president/ceo is identified to lead the company.

Dr. Min Zhuo, Chief Scientific Officer, is currently Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience, and holder of the EJLB-CIHR Michael Smith Chair in Neuroscience and Mental Health and a Canada Research Chair in Pain and Cognition at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Min Zhuo, Chief Scientific Officer, is currently Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience, and holder of the EJLB-CIHR Michael Smith Chair in Neuroscience and Mental Health and a Canada Research Chair in Pain and Cognition at the University of Toronto. Previously he was Chief of Basic Research at the Washington University Pain Center in St. Louis. Dr. Zhuo completed postdoctoral fellowships with Professors Eric Kandel (Nobel Laureate) at Columbia University and Richard Tsien at Stanford University. He is Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Pain, Editor of Drug Discovery Today: Disease Models and Section Editor of Drug Discovery Today: Pain and Analgesia. Dr. Zhuo has published more than 75 manuscripts in high-quality peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) and Neuron. Dr. Zhuo is an inventor of NBPI’s intellectual property portfolio and is a world leader in synaptic physiology.

Konrad Powell-Jones brings a strong scientific foundation and extensive sales and marketing experience in the pharmaceutical industry to his role as Commercialization Manager, Biotechnology and Medical Products for Innovations at U of T. His responsibilities include the selection, patenting, marketing and licensing of commercially valuable technologies which result from the research conducted at the University of Toronto, some of its affiliated teaching hospitals, centres of excellence, other universities and corporations.
Mr. Powell-Jones is active in regional and national biotechnology associations and continues to be involved in the development of many biotechnology and technology transfer initiatives.

Konrad Powell-Jones
Commercialization Manager, Biotechnology and Medical Products
Tel. 416.978.5730
konrad.jones@utoronto.ca