Incannex

Incannex Healthcare’s cannabinoid combination treatment IHL-216A has been shown to have a strong neuroprotective effect in a rodent model of sports concussion.

The preclinical study compared the formulation to its component drugs — CBD and isoflurane — in a model developed with the US National Football League to accurately represent the type of brain injury in sports-related concussion.

Monash University researchers used a Y-maze task to assess spatial memory by testing the rat’s ability to discriminate between a new and familiar arm, 24 hours after injury.

Injured rats treated with IHL-216A were found to have no difference in their ability to discriminate compared to uninjured animals. This was not the case with injured animals treated only with the placebo.

The findings indicate that the defect in spatial memory observed 24 hours after injury is restored in animals treated with IHL-216A and expand on an initial animal study conducted in 2020.

Incannex is now targeting a pre-investigational new drug meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration in Q3 2022 to discuss an expedited clinical trial program.

Emyria

Emyria has announced positive progress for its MDMA analogue development program being run in partnership with the University of Western Australia.  

The firm said 16 out of 17 compounds sent from the second batch of analogues successfully passed screening with laboratory Eurofins at the test concentrations.

Dr Michael Winlo

This means the compounds showed no evidence of interactions with one or more of the enzymes or cell receptors that can be associated with unwanted clinical side effects.

The results bring the total count of successfully screened MDMA analogues to 83 out of 85 tested so far.

Additional preclinical screening is now being planned with a leading research organisation who will perform a number of assays to evaluate the solubility, partition coefficients and metabolic stability of each compound.

These assays can help predict absorption and brain uptake rates and identify compounds that are similar to MDMA in potency, but with faster onset and shorter half-lives, which may be more suitable for clinical applications.

Emyria managing director Michael Winlo said: “We are now planning pivotal pre-clinical studies to help identify which of these compounds may have the potency of common MDMA, but with enhanced safety and shorter acting times and half-lives.

“We anticipate this screening program will help identify compounds with the potential to become registered treatments for other neuropsychiatric conditions.” 

Creso Pharma

Creso Pharma’s wholly owned psychedelics subsidiary Halucenex Life Sciences has been awarded a permit to import one kilogram of psilocybe cubensis by Health Canada to use for ongoing R&D initiatives. 

William Lay

Halucenex will use the permit to import one kilogram of dried Jamaican-grown psilocybe cubensis from specialist consulting partner Grogenex, which equates to 20 grams of psilocybin.

The company said importing psilocybe cubensis will provide it with sufficient inventory while there is an ongoing supply shortage.

The import is due to be completed by the end of May with the firm’s phase two clinical trial expected to begin this quarter.

Creso CEO and managing director William Lay said: “Securing the import permit from Health Canada allows the company to access a supply of dried psilocybe cubensis during a period where there is strong demand and a bottleneck on supply.

“Further, establishing a relationship with Grogenex for the import of psilocybe cubensis will broaden Halucenex’s exposure to different strains for R&D initiatives and we are confident that this will build on our ongoing understanding of how to best leverage the substance for a range of potential benefits.”

Zelira

Zelira Therapeutics has launched a new CBD and hemp-based cream in the US through its partnership with Cardiovascular Solutions of Central Mississippi (CVSCM).

Zelira
Dr Oludare Odumosu

Itura targets numbness and tingling, muscle cramps, insensitivities and neuropathies including pain associated with peripheral artery disease and diabetes.

Zelira managing director Dr Oludare Odumosu described the launch as a “significant milestone” for the company.

He added: “Together with our partner CVSCM we are enhancing people’s lives by providing a novel relief formula for a largely unmet therapeutic area of need that has substantial market potential in the US and globally.”

The initial purchase order of 10,000 units has been manufactured and paid for by CVSCM, which has exclusive marketing rights in the US. Zelira retains the rights for all other markets worldwide. 

CVSCM CEO Dr Foluso Fakorede said: “Our partnership with Zelira Therapeutics has led to Itura, a proprietary novel therapeutic option for patients whose lives and livelihoods have been upended by pain. These people no longer have to suffer.” 

MGC Pharma

MGC Pharmaceuticals has been granted a patent by the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office protecting its CannEpil delivery system, used to carry the company’s high-CBD, low-THC medicine being developed to combat hard-to-treat forms of epilepsy.

MD Roby Zomer said: “This is a recognition of the strength of our product and provides legal commercial protection for our company and our partner’s IP.”

CannEpil is approved for use in Australia and the Republic of Ireland.

Prior to launching Cannabiz, Martin was co-founder and CEO of Asia-Pac’s leading B2B media and marketing information brand Mumbrella, overseeing its sale to Diversified Communications in 2017. A journalist...

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