Clinical drug development and care delivery company Emyria Limited (ASX: EMD) has entered into an exclusive agreement with the University of Western Australia (UAW) to examine and expand a unique library of proprietary, MDMA-like compounds or ‘analogues’ which has been developed over the last 10 years.
The analogues are unique chemical entities that are structurally similar to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (‘MDMA’, ‘ecstasy’), but designed to engage different neurological targets, and therefore, elicit potentially unique clinical and neuro-cognitive effects.
The agreement provides Emyria with a unique drug discovery pipeline, which will assist the company in becoming a leader in the development of psychedelic-assisted therapies and treatments for major neurological disorders.
Dr.Matt Piggott, who will be leading the screening and compound expansion programme, has more than 23 years of experience in sophisticated organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and therapeutic drug development.
Dr Piggott has been investigating MDMA analogues for more than 10 years and is considered a world expert in this area. He has also provided expert opinions, evidence and commercialisation advice to numerous multinational pharmaceutical and regulatory agencies.
Therapeutic potential
Emyria’s Managing Director, Dr Michael Winlo, said that for a number of mental health disorders, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), there are limited efficacious treatment options. Recently, there has been renewed interest in the potential of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to restore function for patients with these disorders with the primary hypothesis that MDMA, via prosocial effects, and in conjunction with psychotherapy, increases the ability of patients to address the underlying psychopathology of their disorder.
MDMA-analogues have also shown promise as treatments for other neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. In these indications, it may be desirable to limit or remove the euphoric and stimulant effects of MDMA.
Therefore, for the treatment of certain psychiatric and neurological disorders, there is an interest in developing MDMA-like compounds that are more selective for specific neurological receptors. More selective drug candidates have the potential to become treatments for large patient populations with reduced cost and increased efficacy.
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has demonstrated huge potential in treating severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Emyria is actively working to develop a safe and scalable delivery model for this treatment,” Dr Winlo said.
“Emerging treatments like psychedelic-assisted therapy have great potential but require further investment and innovation into new drugs, digital technologies and care models in order to improve efficacy, safety and access for patients.
“With this exclusive agreement, Emyria has now added a unique drug discovery pipeline, which complements our existing programs, and which leverages years of research and development by Dr Matt Piggott and his team.
“This agreement creates an opportunity for Emyria to lead the development of the next generation of MDMA-like compounds so they may become registered treatments for patients with major psychiatric and neurological disorders.
“This agreement prepares Emyria to be an Australian leader in the development of novel psychedelic assisted therapies and also has the potential to identify and develop novel therapeutic agents for other neurological disorders where there are large unmet needs, potentially expanding the range of disorders we can treat.
“As a data-backed clinical care provider and drug developer we are uniquely positioned to lead the accelerated development and registration of promising new treatments as well as collect the evidence required to demonstrate adequate safety, efficacy and cost effectiveness and we look forward to updating the market accordingly on the progression of this programme.”
