Emyria Ltd (ASX:EMD) has filed additional patents supporting its EMD-004 cannabinoid-based drug development program targeting irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
The new IP was filed after extensive analysis of Emyria’s proprietary clinical data collected with consenting patients who obtained relief from their IBS condition while being treated at Emyria’s wholly-owned, nationwide clinical subsidiary - Emerald Clinics.
There are currently no approved drug treatments for IBS, which affects around 11% of the population globally and is a significant unmet need often associated with greater levels of anxiety and lower quality of life measures.
“IP crucial to register treatments”
Emyria managing director Dr Michael Winlo says: “A major benefit of Emyria’s high quality, real-world clinical data is that it allows us to frequently and confidently file differentiated and strongly developed patents that support and defend our parallel-running drug development programs.
“Just like EMD-003, our first cannabinoid medicine drug development program targeting psychological distress, EMD-004 is now well defined with patents filed covering our unique dose-response insights for specific patient populations.
“Filing IP of this kind is crucial in helping differentiate, and ultimately register, cannabinoid-based treatments in major markets around the world.
“This is what large pharma look for in drug development programs.
“We are constantly analysing our proprietary clinical data which was recently validated in a data linkage project with global clinical research organisation, IQVIA.
“In addition to further IP, our ongoing analysis allows us to launch new drug development programs in parallel, each targeting major, global, unmet needs.”
CBD and THC formulations
EMD-004 is Emyria’s second drug development program to be launched following analysis of Emyria Data.
The company’s patents cover unique dose strengths and formulations, believed to be most effective in treating a range of IBS-related symptoms including:
- CBD-only formulations which could support a Schedule 3, over-the-counter registration program in Australia and;
- CBD and THC containing formulations that could support higher schedule applications and international registrations including US FDA.
A large observational study involving IBS patients is currently underway across Emerald Clinics.