Non-Hallucinogenic Psychedelic Treatment For Anxiety And Depression In Pre-Clinical Models: Enveric Biosciences' Breakthrough Research

Neuroplastogen biotech company Enveric Biosciences ENVB has presented research highlighting its lead compound, EB-003 at the 7th Neuropsychiatric Drug Summit showing beneficial outcomes in preclinical models of anxiety and depression.

EB-003 is a neuropathogenic and non-hallucinogenic N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) analog drug candidate.

The move follows the company's July announcement of positive pre-clinical results of its EB-003 drug candidate to be delivered via oral administration. The results indicated that oral administration of EB-003 provides significant brain exposure in rodent models at potential therapeutic doses.

Read Also: EXCLUSIVE: Enveric Biosciences Announces Non-Binding Deals To License Out Three Types of Drug Compounds

The presentation titled, "Non-hallucinogenic and neuropathogenic DMT analog imparts positive behavioral outcomes in mice," addresses the criteria researchers evaluated in the design and development of EB-003 as a non-hallucinogenic derivative of DMT for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety.

The conference is being held at the Hilton Boston Back Bay in Boston, Massachusetts on Sept. 24-26, 2024.

• Get Benzinga's exclusive analysis and the top news about the cannabis industry and markets daily in your inbox for free. Subscribe to our newsletter here. If you're serious about the business, you can't afford to miss out.

"The underlying mechanism of how psychedelics work to treat psychiatric conditions is hotly contested, but much of the leading scientific evidence points to the induction of neuroplasticity, essentially enabling the brain to rewire itself," Joseph Tucker, Ph.D., CEO of Enveric explained. "The capability to cause this, called neuroplastogenicity, is found in the psychedelics currently in late-stage clinical trials and, as demonstrated in the poster being presented today, in EB-003."

The company’s poster highlighted the following preclinical data involving EB-003:

• Two mouse models demonstrating the effectiveness of EB-003 in reducing anxiety and depression; and
• Research examining head twitch response, a behavioral proxy in rodents for hallucinogenic effects in humans.

"We found, in animal models, the same level of psychiatric benefit in EB-003 and DMT and the same level of neuroplastogenicity, believed to be the underlying mechanism of how the drugs work, but a complete lack of psychedelic response for EB-003 compared to DMT, which showed the typical psychedelic effects," Tucker continued.

What's Next?

Enveric said it plans to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for EB-003 by the third quarter of 2025 and initiate clinical development by the end of 2025.

"While all of these results need to be replicated in humans, we are very encouraged by the EB-003 results, and eagerly look forward to the human clinical trials of EB-003 that are anticipated to begin later in 2025," Tucker said.

Read Next:

• Enveric Biosciences Optimistic On Q4 And Full-Year Results: ‘Psychedelic-Inspired’ Meds For Future Growth