InMed Pharmaceuticals Advances Oral Candidate For Alzheimer's Disease, Stock Surges On Tuesday

On Tuesday, InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. INM confirmed INM-901 as an oral formulation that will be utilized in its development programs for Alzheimer’s disease.

Recent preclinical studies have demonstrated that INM-901, a proprietary small molecule drug candidate, can be administered orally and achieve therapeutic levels in the brain comparable to those obtained through the intraperitoneal or abdominal cavity (IP) injection, which is a common route of administration for preclinical investigation of neurodegenerative diseases.

The data indicates the INM-901 formulation can be administered orally and maintains a similar drug exposure levels as IP delivery over a 24-hour period in the brain.

Michael Woudenberg, InMed’s chief operating officer and SVP of Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls, said, “We are excited by the recent data confirming that INM-901 can be delivered across the blood-brain barrier to the brain tissue as an oral formulation which provides significant advantages for further development of this compound in the treatment of Alzheimer’s.”

“Similar drug levels in the target tissue are not usually seen between oral versus IP delivery. The supporting data generated by the oral formulation provides an attractive therapeutic approach given the many challenges associated with the delivery of drug(s) to the brain,” Woudenberg added.

Antibodies, which are large molecules, are difficult to formulate orally and present significant challenges to gastrointestinal tract absorption and further delivery into the bloodstream; therefore, alternative delivery methods, such as IV or subcutaneous injection, must be utilized.

INM-901 is a small molecule capable of achieving absorption in the GI tract into the bloodstream and effectively penetrates the blood-brain barrier.

The company is conducting further chemistry, manufacturing, and controls for both the drug substance and the drug product formulation, including drug metabolism studies, dose-ranging studies, and pharmacokinetic studies to support an IND submission.

Price Action: INM stock is up 241.8% at $0.51 at last check Tuesday.

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