The two companies will work jointly with biopharma sponsors to provide a bridge between pre-clinical work and first-in-human studies, aligning quantitative EEG and cognitive endpoints across species so that a single objective measure of brain function follows a molecule from animal models into first-in-human trials. A cross-species analysis presented by the partners in February 2026 showed a conserved ketamine EEG signature in mouse, rat, dog, and human.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland and LONDON, Oct. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cumulus Neuroscience, the digital biomarker company behind the NeuLogiq® Platform, and Transpharmation Ltd., a scientist-led preclinical neuroscience contract research organisation (CRO), have entered a strategic partnership to support central nervous system (CNS) drug developers through the preclinical-to-clinical transition. The two companies will engage jointly with biopharma sponsors preparing to enter first-in-human studies, aligning the quantitative EEG (qEEG) endpoints and behavioral domains evaluated in Transpharmation's preclinical models with those deployed on the NeuLogiq Platform in the clinic and in participants' homes.
CNS drug candidates have one of the lowest probabilities of success of any therapeutic area, with an estimated 6.7% progressing from nonclinical development to FDA approval (Sertkaya et al., JAMA Netw Open, 2024). One contributor is a discontinuity in measurement that occurs at precisely the moment a clinical development programme becomes most expensive. Preclinically, sponsors generate behavioral and electrophysiological data under tightly controlled conditions. On entering the clinic, the endpoint typically switches to subjective symptom scales and questionnaires, administered infrequently, in heterogeneous populations and noisy settings. When an early clinical study then fails, the sponsor is often unable to determine whether the mechanism was wrong, the exposure inadequate, the endpoint insensitive or the population unsuitable.
EEG offers a route around this discontinuity. It is objective, quantitative, repeatable, and ethologically relevant, and it can be recorded in substantially the same way across species. Transpharmation has a long-established sleep EEG and quantitative EEG (qEEG) platform spanning rodent and canine models, with 26 endpoints benchmarked against clinical gold standards and expertise rooted in its founders' work on orexin and sleep pharmacology at GSK. Cumulus brings NeuLogiq, a multi-domain digital biomarker platform developed with 10 of the world's leading pharma companies, pairing an FDA 510(k)-cleared, self-applicable wireless dry-EEG headset with tablet-based gamified assessments for use in clinic and at home.
Under the partnership, the two companies will work together with biopharma sponsors from the point at which an asset is transitioning to first-in-human studies. Rather than each company scoping its portion of the programme in isolation, Cumulus and Transpharmation will jointly advise on which EEG paradigms to run preclinically in view of how those same measures will be captured once the molecule reaches the clinic.
The rationale for the partnership was set out in February 2026, when John Huxter, PhD, Global Head of EEG & Data Science at Transpharmation, and Florentine Barbey, PhD, Senior Scientist at Cumulus Neuroscience, co-presented a cross-species analysis at the 6th Annual Psychedelic Therapeutics & Drug Development Conference in New Orleans, using ketamine as a translational probe. In Transpharmation's preclinical datasets, ketamine produced a consistent dose-dependent EEG fingerprint in mouse, rat and dog models: a reduced spectral power in the approximately 10 Hz theta–sigma band and increased power in the 50–100 Hz high-gamma band, with effects tracking an approximately one-hour pharmacokinetic window. In a Cumulus study of 30 healthy adult male volunteers, a double-blind crossover design comparing a sub-anaesthetic infusion of racemic ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) with saline produced a quantifiable increase in high-frequency power in the same direction, captured on low-burden dry EEG before, during and after infusion and again at 24 hours, with paired blood sampling enabling direct PK/PD linkage. A parallel Transpharmation psilocybin dataset showed selective suppression of REM sleep over four hours matching the time course of plasma psilocin, giving a physiological readout of CNS 5-HT2A target engagement rather than an inference drawn from peripheral exposure alone.
"Our clients benefit from decades of cross-species translational experience, and qEEG has long been one of the most predictive and back-translatable tools we offer," said Dr Mark Duxon, Chief Executive Officer of Transpharmation. "What this partnership adds is the other half of the bridge. Working with Cumulus means we can help a client design a preclinical EEG and behavioral package knowing precisely how those endpoints will be captured once the programme reaches the clinic — and that is a conversation worth having before a Phase 1 protocol is finalised, not after the data are in."
Continuity of measurement across all phases of clinical development only delivers value if the clinical measurement is deployable at scale. The NeuLogiq Platform is designed for use by non-expert clinic staff and patients, enabling structured sampling in-clinic, and high-frequency longitudinal sampling in the home, without the site burden that would otherwise make robust neurophysiological assessment impractical.
"Sponsors have never had a shortage of preclinical data — they have had a shortage of preclinical data that still means something the moment the first human is dosed," said Tina Sampath, Chief Executive Officer of Cumulus Neuroscience. "Working alongside Transpharmation, we can sit down with a client and align on what will be measured pre-clinically and what NeuLogiq will measure in Phase 1 and beyond. That gives drug developers something scarce in CNS: a continuous, objective line of evidence that does not break at the species boundary."
Cumulus supports precision in CNS clinical trials for its industry partners by enabling in-clinic and remote monitoring of patients across multiple domains of brain function. Sponsors with CNS assets approaching IND-enabling work or first-in-human study design can contact either company to arrange a joint scoping discussion. To learn more, visit www.cumulusneuro.com.
About Quantitative EEG (qEEG)
EEG measures voltage changes generated by the coordinated activity of large populations of neurons, recorded from the scalp or brain surface. Quantitative EEG applies spectral and statistical analysis to those recordings to produce objective measures such as band power, connectivity and phase locking. Because many CNS-active compounds produce clear dose- and time-dependent effects on specific frequency bands, qEEG can serve as a pharmacodynamic biomarker of target engagement, efficacy and tolerability. Its high predictive and back-translational validity, and the fact that comparable readouts can be obtained in laboratory species and in human participants, make it one of the more directly translatable measures available in CNS drug development.
About the Preclinical-to-Clinical Translation Gap
The transition from preclinical research to first-in-human study is often described as the "valley of death" in CNS drug development. It is not primarily an indictment of animal models. Failures are more often attributable to insufficient attention to target exposure and engagement, to the complexity of the human clinical population, and to a failure to make use of both human and animal data through common objective measures. Where the measurement system itself changes at the species boundary, a disappointing early clinical result becomes difficult to interpret and therefore difficult to act on.
About Cumulus Neuroscience
With a mission to generate the data and insights required to accelerate diagnosis and management of central nervous system (CNS) disorders for millions of patients and caregivers around the world, Cumulus Neuroscience is advancing NeuLogiq®, an AI-based, multi-domain digital biomarker platform to enable better, faster decision making in neurology and neuropsychiatry clinical trials and patient care. Designed for and with 10 of the world's leading pharma companies, the platform enables decentralized trials and is already making a difference in the development of therapies for Alzheimer's Disease, depression and schizophrenia.
About Transpharmation
Transpharmation is a contract research organisation led by scientists. Recognised by drug developers worldwide for researching and delivering life-changing medicines, science will always remain our passion. Our clients benefit from decades of experience in cross-species and cross-therapeutic area translational biology throughout our preclinical services. Transpharmation has a strong focus on preclinical evaluation of potential CNS therapeutics including the areas of epilepsy, pain, neurodegeneration, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and cognition.
SOURCE Cumulus Neuroscience
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