Awakn files new patent for ‘promising’ new psychedelic compounds to treat PTSD

Canadian biotech firm Awakn Life Sciences Corp. (CSE: AWKN) (OTCQB: AWKNF) filed for a new patent late last month in connection with ongoing research and development into potential treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and said “great strides” are being made toward bringing a new PTSD treatment to market.

Awakn said in a press release that one of its partnerships, with United Kingdom-based Graft Polymer Plc, with which it’s been teaming up in pre-clinical research, has borne fruit in the form of two new chemical series that could prove key to treating PTSD and other trauma-related disorders.

On Aug. 27, Awakn filed a new provisional patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, for “a new class of aminoindane chemical entities and their derivatives,” which it said had “promising” potential for treating PTSD and other disorders.

“This filing strengthens the intellectual property portfolio underpinning the Graft Polymer-Awakn collaboration, further reinforcing the company’s competitive edge in the biopharmaceutical market,” Awakn said in its release, adding that the “selection of these co-lead candidates is a pivotal step in the drug development process.”

Awakn further announced that it’s chosen to now partner with Charnwood Discovery, a “respected U.K.-based provider of drug discovery services,” to help it synthesize the new compounds for further testing.

CEO Anthony Tennyson further boasted that Awakn is “making great strides in our collaboration with Graft Polymer as we move closer to developing a new class of therapeutics to tackle PTSD and other trauma-related conditions.”

“These advancements represent a major step forward in our mission to deliver more effective solutions for those suffering from mental health disorders,” Tennyson said.

Also ongoing is Awakn’s work in bringing a psychedelic treatment for alcohol use disorder to market, based on MDMA, which also relies on third-party technology from another U.K. company, Catalent.

In the meantime, Awakn has begun pulling in revenue from its small network of psychedelic medicine clinics over the past year.