Therapeutic Focus

Developing novel medicines. Innovating for patient benefit.

The human brain is the most complex organ of the human body. It is made up of an integrated network of approximately 100 billion nerve cells called neurons, connected in complex electrical circuits to communicate. Brain health and function depend on the interaction of these circuits. Navigating these complex circuits is a challenge, but a welcome opportunity for the teams at Sage as we seek to develop medicines that matter. We believe our focused, practical and deliberate approach to drug development provides the competitive advantage necessary to create transformative medicines that we hope will achieve our key goal: make life better for patients and their families.

A New Approach to Brain Health Disorders

We focus our research and development efforts on modulation of GABA and NMDA receptors—two critical neurotransmitter systems. The GABA system is the major inhibitory signaling pathway of the brain and central nervous system (CNS); NMDA is the major excitatory pathway. Both contribute significantly to regulating CNS function. Dysfunction in these two systems is known to be at the core of numerous depressive, neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.