Solvonis Therapeutics PLC (LSE:SVNS) CEO Anthony Tennyson talked with Proactive about the company’s acquisition of Awakn Life Sciences and the progress of its lead clinical program.
Tennyson explained that the acquisition positions Solvonis as a biotechnology firm focused on treating addiction and mental health disorders. A key asset from the deal, formerly AWKN-001 and now renamed SVN-001, targets severe alcohol use disorder and is currently in a phase III clinical trial.
"The results of the phase two for that program were groundbreaking," Tennyson said, highlighting that participants improved from 2% sobriety to 86% six months post-treatment.
The phase III trial is being conducted in partnership with the UK Department of Health at an unusually low cost of £800,000, a figure Tennyson noted is “unheard of really, in the biopharmaceutical industry.”
The trial is being carried out within the NHS and supported by UK addiction specialists and the Department of Health and Social Care, adding national relevance to the program.
Tennyson also discussed a second program, SVN-002, focused on alcohol use disorder in the US and outlined plans to integrate Awakn’s assets and grow Solvonis’s team.
Proactive: Anthony, very good to speak with you, and congratulations on yesterday's acquisition of Awakn Life Sciences. What does this mean for Solvonis?
Anthony Tennyson: We're really pleased and really excited about successfully completing the acquisition of Awakn Life Sciences and what that means for Solvonis and for Solvonis shareholders. It positions us now as a biotechnology company, in fact, a leading biotechnology company in the development of medicines to more effectively treat two of the largest unmet medical needs facing society today, in addiction and mental health disorders.
And specifically, it puts us in a very strong leading position in the development of medicines to treat alcohol addiction, which is a condition that affects millions of people across the UK, the US and the European Union, and for which there are really very few effective treatments currently available. So all in all, we're really excited about the completion of the acquisition of Awakn and what the future holds for Solvonis.
Proactive: Anthony, I understand that your lead program, SVN-001, is in phase three. Can you tell us more about that program?
Anthony Tennyson: Yeah, I'm happy to. So as part of our acquisition of Awakn, we've acquired their R&D pipeline. Their lead program was called AWKN-001. We've now renamed that asset to SVN-001. We're really excited about the progress and the potential. That program targets severe alcohol use disorder, which is the hardest to treat and the most debilitating type of alcohol use disorder.
That program is in phase three, which, for your audience to understand, is the final stage in clinical research before being able, subject to being successful, to apply for approval to market your drug. The results of the phase two for that program were groundbreaking, Stephen. And this is really important — people coming onto that trial were sober 2% of the time. So they were sober seven days a year. Those that went through the active arm of the trial achieved, on average, 86% sobriety in the six months post-treatment. So to move from 2% sobriety to 86% sobriety in the six months post-treatment is really unheard of in the treatment of this debilitating disease of alcohol addiction.
That trial is now in phase three, and it's been executed through a partnership now between Solvonis and the UK Department of Health. Through that partnership, the trial is actually being executed at a very, very low cost. The cost to Solvonis is only £800,000 sterling for a phase three, potentially to finish a trial, is unheard of really in the biopharmaceutical industry. What's really important for us is that the trial is being executed in the NHS in the UK. So all in all, for Solvonis, which is a UK-incorporated, London-listed biotech, it's really important for us having that UK-relevant phase three trial for alcohol use disorder being executed in the NHS, with many of the addiction key opinion leaders in England active in the trial, being supported by the UK Department of Health and Social Care. So we're really pleased to have that asset now within Solvonis. And we're very excited about the potential for that program.
Proactive: Anthony, what does the rest of 2025 hold for Solvonis?
Anthony Tennyson: The rest of 2025 is going to be a busy year for us and the team. It's going to be successfully integrating Awakn’s R&D programs and Awakn’s assets into the Solvonis company. It's going to be progressing that lead program SVN-001, so keeping driving on and getting the recruitment, getting the numbers into that trial.
And probably Stephen, what I didn't mention, a key thing for that trial is because of the partnership with the Department of Health, that phase three trial is only costing the company £800,000 sterling, which is unheard of in the biopharmaceutical industry.
So it's about integration (Awakn into Solvonis) it's continuing to execute that lead program SVN-001. It's also progressing a secondary program called SVN-002, which is targeting alcohol use disorder specifically for the very large, commercially attractive U.S. markets. And it's building out the team and executing and keeping the news flow going, for you guys, for me to continue to speak to you on a regular basis.
Proactive: Anthony, I hope you'll keep us posted on any progress. Congratulations again.