NIDA awards grant to Phoenix PharmaLabs to study cocaine use disorder treatment

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded Phoenix PharmaLabs $8.7 million to study PPL-138, a compound to treat cocaine use disorder.

“This marks a milestone for Phoenix in that it is the largest grant ever awarded to the company,” Phoenix PharmaLabs President and CEO William Crossman said in a company press release. “It is a tremendous recognition of our work in this area, and we look forward to furthering our research toward this additional indication for PPL-138.”

Grant funding will be used to finish preclinical studies and begin human clinical trials. PPL-138 has the potential to treat acute and chronic pain without the threat of addiction and can reduce relapse of cocaine use, according to the release.

Phoenix is raising $3 million in investment funding for expenses not covered by the NIDA grant.