CHDI, Inc. is a non-profit organization that is pursuing a biotech approach to rapidly discover and develop drugs that prevent or slow Huntington disease (HD). HD is a familial disease, passed from parent to child through a mutation in a gene. Each child of an HD parent has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the HD gene which causes programmed degeneration of brain cells and results in emotional disturbance, loss of intellectual faculties and uncontrolled movements. Most people with HD develop the symptoms at midlife but in some people onset occurs in infancy or old age. The average survival time after onset is approximately fifteen to twenty years. It is estimated that about one in every 10,000 persons has the HD gene. At this time, there is no way to stop or reverse the course of HD.

Through collaborations with biopharmaceutical, academic and contract research partners, CHDI, Inc., participates in all aspects of drug discovery and development from high-throughput screening to pre-clinical development.

CHDI, Inc. works closely with The High Q Foundation, Inc. and HP Therapeutics Foundation, Inc. High Q supports HD research aimed at target identification and validation, the development and use of animal models, drug delivery, and the search for markers of disease progression. For more information about High Q and its support for HD research please see The High Q Foundation. HP Therapeutics plans and supports clinical initiatives aimed at increasing the efficiency of HD clinical trials and evaluating therapeutic interventions for HD. For more information about some of these initiatives see the Huntington Project website at Huntington Project and the Euro Huntington's Disease Network, CHDI, Inc. is managed by.

MRSSI, Inc. MRSSI was established in 2002 to provide administrative, management and grant-making services to CHDI, Inc., High Q and other non-profit organizations dedicated to HD research.