Ensysce Biosciences announces major milestone for opioid use disorder program

Selects lead candidate with abuse deterrence and improved safety profile to treat opioid use disorder

Ensysce Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing innovative solutions for severe pain relief while reducing the potential for opioid misuse, abuse and overdose,announced the achievement of a critical milestone in its opioid use disorder (OUD) program with the selection of a lead drug candidate to move into Investigational New Drug (IND) enabling studies.

Designed with the application of Ensysce's TAAP platform to reduce the abuse profile, lead candidate PF9001 has shown lower potential for cardiovascular side effects associated with traditional methadone opioid use disorder (OUD) treatments. This work has been supported by a multi-year Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) award of up to $15 million granted by the NIH and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Dr. Lynn Kirkpatrick, CEO of Ensysce said, "We are pleased that the adaptability of our TAAP technology platform has demonstrated benefits in therapeutic indications beyond pain and ADHD. Our novel approach to produce drug candidates whose activity can be turned on and off through the control of trypsin activation is an attractive advantage for new drug development.

As we expand our product pipeline to include OUD, we look forward to bringing PF9001 into human clinical studies within the next 12 to 18 months. The significant funding from NIDA and the HEAL program, with a focus on the reduction of drug abuse and addiction, has been instrumental in our achievement of this critical milestone, and we appreciate their continued support."

Published on : 10th June, 2024