Afraxis, Inc

Biotechnology ResearchUnited States2-10 Employees

Afraxis Inc. is a contract research organization (CRO) specializing in: 

- CNS preclinical efficacy evaluations (in vivo & in vitro)
- Neurotoxicity evaluations
- Structure-Efficacy Relationship (SER) medicinal chemistry

The patented Afraxis ESP (Enhanced Spine Platform) technology produces a rapid, high-information read-out of synaptic networks from whole brain or other tissue preparations. The process incorporates (a) specialized labeling of individual neurons, (b) laser-scanning microscopy, (c) rapid and high-detail morphometry of individual synapses, and (d) novel powerful statistical methods tailored for big data analyses.

The Afraxis ESP platform was first developed within the original Afraxis, Inc. (now Afraxis Holdings), a company founded in 2007 to develop novel therapeutics for Fragile-X Syndrome (FXS) based on the work of Nobel laureate Susumu Tonegawa. The ESP technology was developed originally to solve an unmet need in Fragile-X drug discovery: the lack of a rapid tool to evaluate test compounds against dendritic spine abnormalities, the hallmark neuorbiological phenotype of FXS observed in both humans and rodent models. Considering the broad reach of dendritic spine abnormalitiies throughout CNS diseases, the tool was immediately applicable for other indications. The current Afraxis, Inc. was founded in April 2013 as a spin-out company by Christopher Rex and Carmine Stengone to develop the core ESP technology and drug discovery services.

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