BetterLife Pharma Inc (CSE:BETR, OTCQB:BETRF) announced that it has obtained the first set of behavioral animal pharmacology data for its lead compound, 2-bromo-LSD (TD-0148A), in collaboration with the University of California San Diego (UCSD) laboratory, led by Dr. Adam L. Halberstadt.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said that TD-0148A is a second-generation Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) derivative molecule that it believes “will mimic the therapeutic potential of LSD without causing psychedelic effects, such as hallucinations.”
The data from Dr. Halberstadt’s studies confirm that TD-0148A does not induce head-twitch-response (HTR) in mice even at very high doses (up to 10 mg/kg), whereas LSD induces a robust HTR at much lower doses (0.05-0.1 mg/kg). The head-twitch-response assay in mice is commonly used to evaluate a compound’s hallucinogenic potential in humans.
READ: BetterLife Pharma obtains TD-0148A neurological receptor binding data for IND-enabling pharmacology studies
"We are pleased to confirm the projected non-hallucinogenic nature of TD-0148A as part of our behavioral pharmacology studies conducted in collaboration with Dr. Halberstadt and his team. TD-0148A is a potential novel new therapy to treat debilitating psychiatric and neurological disorders with high unmet need, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and cluster headaches,” said BetterLife CEO, Ahmad Doroudian in a statement.
Doroudian continued: “BetterLife is fully focused on bringing TD-0148A to the US IND stage and into the clinic as soon as possible, and our collaborations with global experts such as Dr. Halberstadt, a leading scientist in the field of psychedelics research, will help us realize our vision."
As part of the agreement between BetterLife and UCSD, Dr. Halberstadt’s team will work with BetterLife to test TD-0148A in various preclinical models that are established in their lab.
The team’s expertise is to understand how psychedelics and related compounds interact with the serotonergic system and how those molecules could be developed to treat psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Dr. Halberstadt’s research focuses on the pharmacology of psychedelic drugs and their derivatives; he is a co-founder of the Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative (PHRI) at UCSD and served as the primary editor of the 2018 book Behavioral Neurobiology of Psychedelic Drugs.
BetterLife is engaged in the development and commercialization of next-generation psychedelic products for the treatment of mental disorders.
Contact Ritika at ritika@proactiveinvestors.com