Therapix, University of Calgary to Evaluate Proprietary Drug Candidate for Pain

Therapix Biosciences announced a collaboration between the company and The University of Calgary to further evaluate the analgesic effect of Therapix's CB2R agonist proprietary drug candidate, THX-160.

This collaboration is expected to facilitate the further development of THX-160 for the treatment of pain, following efficacy pre-clinical studies that demonstrated the analgesic advantages of THX-160 over control. Moreover, THX-160's anti-analgesic effects, in these studies, were comparable and even greater in some instances over high-dose morphine analgesic effects.

Therapix's drug candidate THX-160 is an innovative CB2 receptor agonist, which was synthesized by Raphael Mechoulam, Ph.D., Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University, head of the Medicinal Chemistry Lab and the President of Multidisciplinary Center for Cannabinoid Research and a recipient of the Israel Prize in Exact Sciences - Chemistry and EMET Prize in Exact Sciences – Chemistry, as well as a member of the Therapix Scientific Advisory Board.

"Although cannabinoids have therapeutic potential, their psychoactive effects, associated with the usage of CB1 receptor (CB1R) agonists, have largely limited their use in clinical practice; CB2 receptors (CB2R) agonists do not cause such effects. Quite the opposite, CB2R agonists are known to exhibit mainly a protective effect, acting on pain, in inflammation, in neurological diseases and in many other disease states," said Prof. Mechoulam. "For that reason, I have synthesized in my laboratory a molecule (HU-433; THX-160), which does not activate the CB1 receptor, but affects CB2R alone. This molecule was shown in pre-clinical studies performed by Therapix to lower pain significantly. I believe that our new molecule, which so far has not shown any undesirable effects in animal studies, holds a significant promise to become a major drug as it uses a natural pathway to oppose pain."

"We are excited to partner on this project with the University of Calgary under the leadership of Dr. Tuan Trang, Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Biology & Experimental Medicine at the University of Calgary and a renowned researcher in the clinical management of pain conditions. We believe this research could further demonstrate the analgesic clinical utility of THX-160," said Dr. Adi Zuloff-Shani, Chief Technologies Officer of Therapix. "In the era of America's deadly opioid crisis and following the declaration of a nationwide public health emergency and in fitting with the five-point opioid strategy formed to address the national opioid crisis, cutting-edge pain therapeutics like THX-160 possess the potential to be a new and effective treatment option for pain patients, and reduce the risks of opiate addiction."