Solvonis hails US discovery programme approval for addiction compound

(Alliance News) - Solvonis Therapeutics PLC on Wednesday said its AI-discovered compound has been accepted on an addiction treatment discovery programme ran by the US federal government.

The London-based biopharmaceutical company focused on addiction and mental health disorders said the US National Institute on Drug Abuse will fund and conduct early preclinical evaluation of SVN-015 through the programme.

SVN-015 is a novel compound which targets methamphetamine and cocaine use disorders.

Predictive safety studies are the first stage of the programme, and, if results are supportive, will be followed by efficacy studies, the company said.

Solvonis said if the efficacy studies are successful, the company would then be "well positioned" to compete for a US National Institutes of Health research grant.

"Being accepted into NIDA's ATDP for SVN-015 is a major step forward for Solvonis. ATDP provides a pathway for evaluating the therapeutic potential of SVN-015, starting with early preclinical testing and, if successful, creating the opportunity to progress towards NIH clinical development funding through the UG3/UH3 programme," said Chief Scientific Officer David Nutt.

"For methamphetamine and cocaine addiction - where no approved drug treatments exist - this represents an important advance."

Shares in Solvonis rose 4.6% to 0.25 pence on Wednesday afternoon in London.

By Roya Shahidi, Alliance News reporter

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