BetterLife Pharma Inc. (CSE:BETR, OTCQB:BETRF), a biotech company focused on the development of treatments for mental disorders, revealed that it has obtained the first set of neurological receptor functional binding data on its lead compound, 2-bromo-LSD (TD-0148A).
TD-0148A is a second-generation Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) derivative molecule that BetterLife believes will mimic the projected therapeutic potential of LSD without causing undesirable psychoactive dissociative side effects, such as hallucinations.
The Vancouver-based biotech said the receptor binding data shows that TD-0148A exhibits differential functional activity (agonism, antagonism, or neutral) on neurological receptors which are known to play key roles in neuropsychiatric disorders.
“Of particular interest were the 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) (5-HT) receptor family, where TD-0148A differential functional activity was seen with select 5HT receptor subtypes,” noted the company.
“We are pleased to confirm the differential activity of BetterLife TD-0148A on key neurotransmitter receptors. These results will provide the basis for ongoing preclinical pharmacology studies to understand the basis of the difference between TD-0148A and its parent compound, LSD, in particular the lack of hallucinations with TD-0148A,” BetterLife CEO Ahmad Doroudian said in a statement.
Doroudian further commented, “TD-0148A is protected by several BetterLife-owned patents (granted and provisional). BetterLife believes that TD-0148A has great therapeutic potential for the treatment of debilitating psychiatric and neurological disorders with high unmet need, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and cluster headaches.”
Doroudian noted that Betterlife is putting “all our resources and hope to bring TD-0148A to US Investigational New Drug Application and the clinic by the second half of 2022.”
BetterLife Pharma is primarily focused on developing and commercializing two compounds, TD-0148A and TD-010, to treat neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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