This funding for the NIMH Chemical Synthesis Program furthers NIMH's mission to support research on interventions to prevent mental illness and to reduce its disabling consequences. It also recognizes the specialized needs of the neuroscience research community by providing synthesis, storage and distribution capabilities specifically dedicated to novel and commercially unavailable psychoactive drugs, thereby stimulating research in psychopharmacology and mental health.

"SRI International is one of the most productive sources of new drug entities outside of the established pharmaceutical industry. This new funding allows NIMH to access SRI's rich research and development capabilities to help prevent mental illness, reduce the frequency of recurrent episodes and alleviate the debilitating consequences of neurological disorders," said Michael Tracy, Ph.D., Vice President of the Pharmaceutical Discovery Division at SRI International. "The NIMH Chemical Synthesis Program is an excellent application of our many years of drug discovery expertise."

The project focuses on the development of compounds for the basic and clinical research of novel compounds, including central nervous system receptor subtype-selective agonist and antagonists to treat intractable mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia, radiolabeled compounds for audioradiography, and Positron Emisson Photography (PET) ligands for functional brain imaging.

Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world's largest independent research, technology development and consulting organizations. Founded in 1946 as the Stanford Research Institute, SRI has been meeting the needs of strategic, global markets for more than 50 years. As part of its strategy to bring its technologies to the marketplace, SRI licenses technologies, forms strategic technology partnerships and creates spin-off companies. The Pharmaceutical Discovery Division provides integrated chemical, biochemical, biological and pharmaceutical expertise to government agencies and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

Visit SRI on the web at http://www.sri.com/