Startup is researching alcohol antagonist for clinical use
Since 2018 the young company has been looking for an alcohol antagonist that can be used clinically with which both the efficacy as well as the side effects of alcohol can be effectively counteracted. This is particularly challenging, as alcohol possesses a very complex pharmacological efficacy profile. What is interesting here is that alcohol in typical concentrations occupies almost all of the nerve cell agonist receptors and leads to its known strong side-effects. The young startup was able to find an active substance in cooperation with the University of Regensburg, which in a targeted manner modulates the alcohol sensitive receptors in such a way that they could counteract the effect of alcohol. Further testing on transfected cells at the University Hospital of Würzburg has already been able to confirm the alcohol antagonistic effect in cell experimentation. A patent has been registered with this data, which protects the use of this compound and its derivatives.
The targeted effects make this substance an interesting candidate for the treatment of alcohol intoxication and alcohol dependency. Currently the team is testing various options to increase production of the substance and improve water solubility for formulation. The goal is to make it possible to take an efficacious oral product and to quantitatively expand new product pathways for further leading research. In the spirit of the targeted “co-working space” initiative at BioPark Regensburg GmbH, an enterprise of the City of Regensburg, Evanium Healthcare has been able to take a large step forward in research over several months with the support of RCHST in the use of its laboratory (see press release no. 209). The proximity of the University to the BioPark and the activities of the Regensburg Bioregion first allowed this cooperation to come into being and have been actively promoted by these.