Licensing agreement will advance novel neuropeptide therapy for depression

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Impel NueroPharma recently signed a licensing agreement to advance a neuropeptide-based therapy for depression.

The agreement follows findings that indicated the therapy, which increases coupling of the D1 and D2 receptors, relieved depression symptoms.

“This peptide is an entirely new approach to treating depression, and our work with Impel NeuroPharma has demonstrated a safe and effective way to provide this treatment in our research to date,” study researcher Fang Liu, PhD, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, said in a press release.

Liu and colleagues found that delivering the neuropeptide-based therapy via the Precision Olfactory Delivery (POD), a nasal delivery device developed by Impel NeuroPharma, transmitted the therapy to the appropriate brain region and improved depressive symptoms in preclinical testing.

The therapy had comparable efficacy to antidepressants, according to Liu and colleagues.

Impel NeuroPharma will continue research to advance clinical development of the neuropeptide-based therapy.

“The collaboration between [the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health] and Impel NeuroPharma has produced valuable early data showing that this novel peptide can be non-invasively delivered to the brain with the POD technology. We are very excited to continue development of this molecule for depression and schizophrenia,” John Hoekman, PhD, chief scientific officer of Impel NeuroPharma, said in the release.

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