Memories: Ditching De Novo Discovery

When Brown University researchers Mel Epstein, MD, Leon Cooper, PhD, and Mark Bear, PhD, decided to start up a company based on certain discoveries about the molecular mechanisms that underlie memory consolidation, their aim was like many others' in the biotechnology arena: to begin from scratch, discover compounds and prove them safe and effective, get these products approved by the FDA and sell those drugs to patients in need of treatment. But, says Randy Carpenter, MD, now Sention Inc. 's CEO, when the company's technology platform flagged a compound for its memory-enhancing promise that happened to be an inactive component of a drug that had been on the market—and importantly, proven safe—for decades, novel compound discovery took a backseat to serendipity.