EUCOPE Member Spotlight: Q&A with Catherine Owen Adams, CEO of Acadia Pharmaceuticals

Regularly, EUCOPE spotlights a member company and the great work it’s doing to advance the life sciences industry and drive innovation to serve patients better. For the December edition, we spoke with Catherine Owen Adams, CEO of Acadia Pharmaceuticals.

Tell us about your organization and its mission and how you drive innovation internally?

At Acadia, our mission is to elevate life by advancing groundbreaking therapies in rare disease and neuroscience, especially in areas where no approved treatments currently exist. For us, this mission is both professional and personal. Many of us have experienced the devastating impacts of these conditions in our own families, fueling our passion to push boundaries and make a difference.

Innovation is at the heart of everything we do. It’s embedded in our culture and powered by our values: collaboration, determination, and perseverance. Acadia has developed and commercialized two first-in-class therapies already transforming lives. One, which is available in the United States, and the only FDA-approved treatment for hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis. The other is the first therapy specifically approved in the United States and Canada for Rett syndrome, a rare neuro-developmental disorder. We’re submitting this for EU approval in Q1 2025. Additionally, we’re advancing our late-stage programs targeting Prader-Willi syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease psychosis, and other critical unmet needs.

Internally, we drive innovation by fostering diverse perspectives, prioritizing collaboration across disciplines, and maintaining an unwavering focus on patients and their caregivers. We challenge the status quo through a fearless approach to problem-solving, always guided by science and a deep connection to the human experience.

Beyond research, our collaborative partnerships with patient advocacy groups, healthcare providers, and industry peers ensure that we’re not just developing treatments but reshaping patient care and education for the future. Together, we’re breaking barriers to make life better for those we serve.

How do your organization’s activities help patients now and into the future?

For people living with rare and neurological diseases — often with no approved therapies —we’re delivering solutions that previously seemed unattainable.

Our commitment doesn’t stop at discovery. We’re actively working to broaden access to certain life-changing therapies worldwide, ensuring that geography or healthcare disparities don’t limit their impact. We would be unable to do this without the HCPs, families, and patients in Europe who participate in our clinical trials. At the same time, we’re advancing a robust pipeline targeting complex disorders like Prader-Willi syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease psychosis, among others. These efforts are driven by our relentless pursuit of innovative science and collaboration with healthcare professionals, researchers, and advocacy organizations.

Looking ahead, we’re not just delivering treatments — we partner with organizations to raise awareness, build supportive patient communities, and foster understanding of the unique challenges faced by those with rare and neurological diseases. Through education and collaboration, we aim to empower patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers with the tools they need to navigate their journeys.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the life sciences industry today?

The biggest challenge facing the life sciences industry today is balancing the accelerating pace of scientific innovation with the ability to ensure equitable access to these advancements. We are in an era where breakthroughs in areas like gene therapy, personalized medicine, and AI-driven drug discovery are revolutionizing how we treat diseases. However, these innovations often come with high costs, regulatory complexities, and challenges in scaling access, particularly for underserved populations.

As an industry, we must address disparities in healthcare access while maintaining the momentum of discovery and development. This requires collaboration across stakeholders — manufacturers, healthcare professionals, regulators, payers, patients, and advocacy groups — to create sustainable models that prioritize both innovation and inclusivity. At Acadia, we are deeply committed to this mission. Our goal is to not only pioneer new therapies but to also foster a healthcare ecosystem that values both innovation and equity.

What are the major health policy issues and themes that you are most focused on in 2024 and into 2025?

One of the most critical health policy issues we are focused on is improving clinical trial diversity. Addressing barriers to trial diversity is not just a moral imperative — it is a scientific one. We know that the effectiveness of treatments can vary across different populations, and yet historically, many groups — particularly racial and ethnic minorities, women, and older adults — have been underrepresented in clinical research. This creates gaps in our understanding of how therapies perform across diverse populations and limits equitable access to groundbreaking treatments.

At Acadia, we are committed to playing a central role in breaking down these barriers. Our approach centers on two key strategies:

• Building Community Partnerships: We are collaborating with community organizations, advocacy groups, and local healthcare providers to build trust in underrepresented communities. By investing in education about clinical research and its benefits, we aim to overcome historical mistrust and foster meaningful participation.
• Advocating for Policy Change: We actively engage with policymakers to shape regulations and incentives that prioritize diversity in clinical trials. This includes advocating for frameworks that require diversity action plans for all new trials and collaborating with other industry leaders to establish standardized metrics for measuring progress.

We believe that by advancing clinical trial diversity, we can unlock better insights into disease and treatment and help ensure that the therapies we develop meet the needs of all patients. This aligns with our broader mission to advance understanding and care across areas of unmet need.

We must ensure that as many patients as possible have access to the new, innovative medicines that companies like Acadia produce. We understand that the healthcare ecosystem is complex, but patients deserve timely access to new medicines. Too often roadblocks get in the way. Acadia is committed to working with payers and government regulators to achieve this goal.

What attracted you to join EUCOPE and how can we help you achieve your business goals?

Joining EUCOPE was a natural step for Acadia as we expand our footprint in Europe and deepen our commitment to developing innovative therapies for neurological disorders, such as rare conditions like Rett syndrome and Parkinson’s. EUCOPE’s position as a leading advocate for small to mid-sized pharmaceutical companies aligns seamlessly with our mission to bring groundbreaking treatments to patients who need them most, particularly in areas of high unmet medical need.

What attracted us most to EUCOPE is its ability to foster collaboration across the pharmaceutical ecosystem, enabling companies like ours to navigate the complex regulatory landscape, advocate for patient-centric policies, and ensure that innovative therapies reach European patients efficiently. EUCOPE’s emphasis on shaping a supportive policy environment is critical for addressing the unique challenges associated with developing therapies for rare and neurological disorders, where regulatory clarity, market access, and innovation incentives play a pivotal role.

Through EUCOPE, Acadia can engage with policymakers and stakeholders to shape policies that reflect the realities of our industry. This partnership will help us overcome barriers to market access and adoption, ensure equitable pricing and reimbursement pathways, and leverage strategic insights to expand our European presence.

EUCOPE is more than a membership; it is a platform for advocacy, collaboration, and innovation that can amplify our efforts to transform patient care. Together, we can advance policies that support scientific breakthroughs, accelerate innovation, and deliver life-changing therapies to patients across Europe.