Scios Nova Inc. announced Monday that it has formed a newcompany, Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc., to discover, developand commercialize pharmaceuticals for diagnosing and treatingneurological and psychiatric diseases.

Guilford, which is based in Baltimore, was formed jointly byScios Nova (NASDAQ:SCIO); Solomon Snyder, director of thedepartment of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University; andCraig Smith, formerly on the faculty at Johns Hopkins School ofMedicine and most recently the senior vice president forbusiness and market development at Centocor Inc.

Smith will become Guilford's new president and chief executiveofficer, and Snyder will chair the fledgling company's scientificadvisory board. Scios Nova of Mountain View, Calif., which hasa majority interest in Guilford, will provide the new companywith $2.5 million in start-up funds.

Guilford was founded at least in part to capitalize on a recentdiscovery made by Snyder. He has recently discovered that thegas nitric oxide can work as a neurotransmitter; it's also beenassociated with the brain damage caused by stroke.

Together with exploring the role of nitric oxide in centralnervous system disorders, Guilford intends to develop "... moreadvanced programs [in Scios Nova's CNS portfolio] to diagnoseand treat significant neurological disorders, such as Parkinson'sdisease and to treat brain cancer," according to Richard Casey,Scios Nova's chief executive officer. -- Jennifer Van Brunt

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