BetterLife Pharma Inc (CSE:BETR, OTCQB:BETRF) has announced that an abstract from the preclinical data on anti-depressant activity of its lead compound 2-bromo-LSD (BETR-001) has been accepted for presentation at the Canadian Association for Neuroscience (CAN) Conference from May 12-15, 2022 in Toronto, Canada.
The Vancouver-based company said the study, led by Dr Vern Lewis, is part of its collaboration with the laboratory of Dr Argel Aguilar-Valles at Carleton University's Department of Neuroscience. The collaboration is also supported by the Mitacs Accelerate program.
At CAN, BetterLife said Lewis will present preclinical data demonstrating the neural plasticity-promoting and anti-depressant properties of BETR-001 from both in vitro and in vivo studies.
READ: BetterLife says BETR-001 demonstrates strong anti-depressant activity in preclinical models of depression
The company said the study by Lewis demonstrated that treatment of rat embryonic cortical neurons with BETR-001 increases the structural complexity of neurons (dendrite growth and complexity) and therefore, provides evidence of neural plasticity activity of BETR-001. In certain measurements of structural plasticity in neurons, BETR-001 performed better than ketamine in this model, BetterLife added.
“BetterLife believes that BETR-001 is an uniquely-positioned LSD derivative with the potential to be as effective as LSD in various neuro-psychiatric and neurological disorders without the burden of being hallucinogenic,” the company said. “Because of its non-hallucinogenic nature, BETR-001 will not have all the LSD requirements of administration in specialized clinics under special treatment protocols, LSD controlled substance regulatory issues which impact manufacturing, distribution and patient access, and the overall associated high treatment costs for all these parameters.”
The company noted that BETR-001 is protected by BetterLife’s composition, method-of-use, synthesis and formulation patents, both issued and provisional.
BETR-002, which is in preclinical and IND-enabling studies, is based on honokiol, the active anxiolytic ingredient of magnolia bark. BetterLife's pending method of use and formulations patent covers treatment of anxiety related disorders, including benzodiazepine dependency.
BetterLife also owns a drug candidate for the treatment of viral infections such as coronavirus (COVID-19).
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