Solvonis Therapeutics PLC (LSE:SVNS) has had its experimental compound SVN-015 accepted into a US government programme that will fund and run the early laboratory work needed to assess whether it might help treat methamphetamine and cocaine addiction.
The London-listed biotech, which develops medicines for central nervous system disorders, said the compound, discovered using artificial intelligence, has been taken into the US National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Addiction Treatment Discovery Program.
NIDA, part of the National Institutes of Health, will cover the cost of the first battery of tests.
That initial stage centres on in vitro safety studies, which are lab-based checks designed to spot any early cardiovascular risks. These tests are a routine starting point for any new potential medicine.
If the findings look promising, SVN-015 could move into NIDA-run efficacy studies in validated preclinical models of stimulant addiction.
Should those studies also succeed, Solvonis would then be in a position to compete for a non-dilutive NIH research grant worth up to $3 million per year for as long as five years.
These grants are competitive, but the preclinical work funded by NIDA provides the kind of safety and efficacy data required to support an application.
In the best-case scenario, it creates a pathway from government-funded lab work through to potential NIH-funded clinical trials in humans.
Solvonis said the programme offers an important opportunity as the company widens its focus beyond alcohol use disorder into stimulant addictions (specifically methamphetamine and cocaine) for which no approved drug treatments currently exist.
Professor David Nutt, the company’s chief scientific officer, said: “Being accepted into NIDA’s ATDP for SVN-015 is a major step forward for Solvonis.
"ATDP provides a pathway for evaluating the therapeutic potential of SVN-015, starting with early preclinical testing and, if successful, creating the opportunity to progress towards NIH clinical development funding through the UG3/UH3 programme.
"For methamphetamine and cocaine addiction, where no approved drug treatments exist, this represents an important advance.”