Schizophrenia affects approximately 20 million people worldwide. One of the core symptoms is Cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS), which impacts memory, attention, and executive function, significantly reducing patients' quality of life. Despite its profound effect, there are currently no approved treatments for CIAS.
Neuroscience startup Monument Therapeutics has developed MT1988, a novel fixed-dose combination drug for the treatment of CIAS, and today announced it has secured £850,000 to fund its schizophrenia programme and drive its next stage of growth.
I spoke to Dr Jenny Barnett, CEO of Monument Therapeutics, to learn all about it.
Barnett is a psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist by training. In 2021, she was the Chief Scientist at Cambridge Cognition, a company that provides software to the pharmaceutical industry to measure brain function non-invasively.
These software tools resemble computer games but are designed to measure cognitive processes precisely. Pharma companies use them to assess the effectiveness of drugs targeting brain function, such as memory in Alzheimer’s or impulse control in ADHD.
Barnett recalled:
“While at Cambridge Cognition, I worked on numerous drug trials and saw many promising drugs fail. About 95 per cent of neuroscience drugs don’t make it through clinical development.
This is often because psychiatric diagnoses are broad and heterogeneous—people with the same diagnosis may have different underlying brain dysfunctions.”
Monument Therapeutics started as a research project within Cambridge Cognition to develop a better way to stratify patients based on measurable brain function rather than broad diagnoses and, therefore, create more homogeneous patient groups that would respond predictably to specific treatments.
“We spun Monument out as a separate company in 2021 to develop drugs alongside digital biomarkers that could help identify which patients would benefit most from a given treatment.”
The challenge of psychiatric research
Unlike fields like oncology, where biopsies can reveal specific genetic markers, neuroscience lacks direct access to the brain. In cancer, we now understand that different genetic profiles require different treatments. In contrast, psychiatry still diagnoses based on symptoms, equating, for example, low mood with depression, regardless of the underlying cause.
According to Barnett, the field must move toward precision medicine by identifying brain function abnormalities rather than relying solely on symptom-based diagnoses.
As a result, Monument treats symptoms rather than broad disorders.
Measuring cognitive and behavioural biomarkers
The FDA defines a digital biomarker as a characteristic or set of characteristics collected from digital health technologies that is measured as an indicator of normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, or responses to an exposure or intervention, including therapeutic interventions.
The drug MT1988 stems from research conducted by our Chief Scientific Officer, Kiri Granger. She identified a cognitive process called latent inhibition, which helps filter relevant information from irrelevant information.
According to Barnett, in many people with schizophrenia, this filter is weaker, making them more likely to notice and respond to irrelevant stimuli.
“Schizophrenia is highly heterogeneous. About two-thirds of people with schizophrenia have a weakened attentional filter, while the remaining third do not.
If we were to give our drug indiscriminately, it could improve symptoms for some but worsen them for others. By measuring where a patient falls on this cognitive spectrum, we can predict whether our drug will be beneficial before prescribing it."
Specifically, Momentum’s digital biomarker measures this filtering ability using a computer-based test.
“We know that certain drugs can modulate this process, so we can use our biomarker to identify patients who are most likely to benefit from our treatment.”
The future of digital biomarkers
According to Barnett, the field is expanding, but challenges remain.
Unlike in other medical fields, psychiatry has yet to identify robust blood biomarkers for most conditions. Some progress is being made in Alzheimer’s, but for psychiatric disorders, behavioural and cognitive assessments are the norm.
" Digital biomarkers are promising because they offer a scalable, reliable, and clinically useful way to assess brain function without requiring expensive or cumbersome equipment like EEGs and fMRIs.
A digital biomarker, like our software-based test, can be administered easily at clinical trial sites or even in routine psychiatric care.
The goal is to develop a solution that is not just scientifically sound but also practical for real-world application."
MT1988 has shown excellent pre-clinical results, with substantial cognitive improvement produced by combining two well-characterised small molecules that act on nicotinic receptors. It is designed to enhance cognitive function while mitigating common side effects seen with similar treatments.
Barnett detailed:
“We are currently conducting a Phase 1 safety study in healthy volunteers. The drug is a combination of two existing medications, formulated together to mitigate side effects. Since the two drugs have never been used together, this trial ensures their combined safety.We expect results by the end of next month. If successful, we will proceed to Phase 2 trials in patients with early-stage schizophrenia later this year.”
The drug is intended to be used alongside existing antipsychotic medications, offering a complementary solution for patients.
ACF Investors led the funding with participation from Wren Capital, o2h Ventures, and angel investors.
The investment will be used to support the progression of MT1988 through further clinical development, with Phase 1 results expected in Q2 2025.
Tim Mills, Managing Partner at ACF Investors, said:
“Monument Therapeutics is tackling one of the most elusive areas of neuroscience drug development with an innovative, precision-based approach.
“CIAS is an area of huge unmet need and we believe that MT1988 has the potential to make a real impact on a range of conditions. We look forward to supporting Jenny and the team as they push the boundaries of neuroscience and work towards a much-needed solution for patients worldwide.”
According to Sunil Shah, CEO of o2h Ventures, the cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia is an area of significant unmet medical need.
“Jenny Barnett has been a fantastic CEO leading the charge and finding innovative sources of funding for the programme.”
Lead image: KamranAydinov.
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