Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX:IHL, NASDAQ:IXHL) has inked a licence agreement with Monash University in Australia to develop novel treatments that combine virtual reality (VR) with psychedelics, marking the beginning of a second clinical psychedelic therapy program.
Incannex has an exclusive, global licence in perpetuity for an immersive therapeutic VR environment that was developed by BrainPark, a state-of-the-art clinical research platform at Monash University’s Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health.
The licence allows Incannex to investigate the use of the VR therapy tool in combination with a psychedelic drug to develop a new treatment for severe forms of one or more anxiety disorders.
“Leading-edge in mental health”
Incannex CEO and managing director Joel Latham said: “We’re delighted to have commenced this exciting project and to have expanded our partnership with Monash.
“The combination of psychedelic compounds with an evidence-based VR therapy is leading-edge in the field of mental health treatments.
“We look forward to providing more detail about the project in due course when clinical trial planning has been finalised.”
The established VR treatment uses an exposure-based approach, providing triggering stimuli in a graded and controlled manner (Exposure and Response Prevention or ERP).
Incannex believes the combination of this VR treatment with specialised clinical support and administration of a psychedelic drug could aid the development of new skills, changes in mental and biological responses to triggering stimuli and reductions in pathological symptoms and behaviours.
The associated research and development project will be funded by Incannex and undertaken by Monash, led by Dr Paul Liknaitzky (head, The Clinical Psychedelic Research Lab, Turner Institute and Department of Psychiatry, Monash) with a team of Monash professors and doctors from various relevant departments.
Three licence fees have been outlined in the agreement and will be payable upon a decision from Incannex to proceed to the next stages of research.
The parties are working towards a research agreement for the first of these trials, which will assess optimal dose, safety and tolerability of the combination treatment method.
About Incannex Healthcare
Incannex Healthcare is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical development company that is developing unique medicinal cannabis pharmaceutical products and psychedelic medicine therapies for the treatment of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), traumatic brain injury (TBI)/concussion, lung inflammation (ARDS, COPD, asthma, bronchitis), rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Each indication represents major global markets and currently have no, or limited, existing registered pharmacotherapy (drug) treatments available to the public.
IHL has a strong patent filing strategy in place as it develops its products and therapies in conjunction with its medical and scientific advisory board and partners.