Cogstate acquires second cognitive test from Pfizer

Melbourne company CogState (ASX: CGS) has acquired a second computer-based cognitive test through an agreement with Pfizer which gives the pharmaceutical company preferred rates to CogState's test and CogState a royalty-free licence to market the new test to other pharmaceutical companies.

Pfizer originally developed the test, known as the Groton Maze Learning Test (GMLT) and based on a similar principle to the classic Morris Water Maze Test used to study cognition and memory in rats, as a method of testing the effects of new drugs on symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease.

But the test specifically measures aspects of spatial learning and memory, and Pfizer has since decided to use it together with CogState's more general test of cognition, according to CogState CEO Dr Peter Bick.

Recognising that other companies would also benefit from the use of the GMLT, Pfizer sought a marketing partner for their test, eventually choosing CogState, Bick said.

The company plans to keep the two tests as separate entities, but market them as a package to drug companies. CogState's test is already being used by a number of pharmaceutical companies to evaluate cognitive effects of new drugs in the clinic. But unlike the CogState test, the GMLT won't be marketed to physicians for use in clinical practice, as the test requires the use of a special touch screen.

"Of all our markets, it [the pharmaceutical company market] is the only one it's appropriate for," Bick said.

At the time of writing, CogState's share price had risen more than eight per cent to AUD$0.52.