Awakn Life Sciences Reports Completing World's First Ketamine Study For A Range Of Behavioral Addictions

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Could Ketamine be a key ingredient in the treatment of behavioral disorders? 

The team at Awakn Life Sciences Corp. AWKN AWKNF conducted a study to answer this question. As a biotechnology company, Awakn focuses on researching, developing and commercializing therapeutics to treat addiction. 

On May 19, the company announced the completion of the world’s first ketamine study for behavioral addictions, including Gambling Disorder, Internet Gaming Disorder, Binge Eating Disorder and Compulsive Sexual Behavior. 

Possibly placing vitality onto Awakn’s recent study are the disorders’ frequency around the globe — gambling disorder and internet gaming disorder alone affect nearly 700 million people. There are no pharmacological treatments available for behavioral addictions and the standard of care available for them is reported to be poor in many areas. 

Results From The Study?

The pilot study’s reported results indicate the desired effects via potentially novel mechanisms, and these results merit a larger study and further exploration, which Awakn is now initiating. 

Awakn stated that the study also supports their intellectual property (IP) strategy and patent applications, and the company hopes to position itself as a leading company in the behavioral-addiction t industry. Awakn expects to update investors further on its IP strategy in the coming weeks.

“These promising early findings may suggest a new treatment solution in behavioral addictions, which are growing rapidly across the globe and as yet are a completely unmet treatment need,” said professor Celia Morgan, Awakn's head of ketamine-assisted therapy. “The team is excited to be starting these new significant studies, which promise to bring considerable innovation to the field.”

Awakn CEO Anthony Tennyson said the study gave the company all the data it hoped for and demonstrated that a larger study is merited. 

“For such a huge cohort of over a billion people to be suffering with no pharmacological treatment available to them, is unacceptable, and we will strive to deliver therapies to patients who are in desperate need,” Tennyson said.

The Awakn Mission

Addiction is one of the biggest unmet medical needs, affecting over 20% of the global population, according to Awakn. The addiction and rehabilitation industry is valued at over $100 billion each year. 

Despite the significant prevalence of addiction, treatments are reportedly rare and often ineffective. Alcohol use disorder which is Awakn’s primary near-term focus, affects 5% of the adult population, of whom only 16% are treated. Of those, 75% relapse within 12 months. Unfortunately, Covid has only exacerbated this with rates increasing. 

Addiction comes in many forms, and Awakn says its goal is to provide a worthy solution to those affected. Guided by research projections, Awakn places the business opportunity in the addiction therapy space alone at $31.5 billion by 2027.

Click here to keep up with the Awakn story. 

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