Minerva Neurosciences to Host Key Opinion Leader Meeting on Avolition, the Most Central Domain for the Successful Treatment of Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia

Breakfast meeting to be held on Friday, March 6, 2020 in New York

WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Minerva Neurosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: NERV), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative therapies to treat unmet medical needs of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced that it will host a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) breakfast to discuss the importance of improving avolition in the successful treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia on Friday, March 6, 2020 in New York. 

The event will be hosted by Dr. Remy Luthringer, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Minerva, and will feature a brief presentation and moderated discussion with Philip Harvey, PhD, from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Greg Strauss, PhD, from the Georgia Psychiatric Risk Evaluation Program. They will discuss Dr. Strauss’s paper on the central role of avolition, defined as reductions in the desire for and initiation of motivated behavior, in treating negative symptoms in schizophrenia that was published recently in Schizophrenia Bulletin. A Q&A session will be held at the conclusion of the event.

Dr. Strauss will discuss his findings in the context of data from the Phase 2b study of Minerva’s lead product candidate, Roluperidone (MIN-101), a novel 5-HT2A and σ₂ receptor antagonist. Roluperidone is currently in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Greg Strauss, PhD directs the Clinical Affective Neuroscience Laboratory and Georgia Psychiatric Risk Evaluation Program (G-PREP). He has authored over 120 publications, and his research has been recognized by several awards, such as the Early Career Award from the National Academy of Neuropsychology, Early Career Award from the American Society for Clinical Psychopharmacology, Wechsler Early Career Award for Innovative Research on Cognition from the American Psychological Foundation, and Young Investigator Awards from the International Congress on Schizophrenia Research and the Schizophrenia International Research Society. He has received over $15M in grants as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator from the NIMH, NARSAD, VA MIRECC, APF, NSF and G-PREP. He serves on the editorial boards of Schizophrenia Bulletin, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Clinical Psychological Science, and Schizophrenia Research: Cognition.