atai Life Sciences launches InnarisBio, in partnership with the University of Queensland, with the aim to develop a more effective nose-to-brain delivery method for atai’s platform of mental health therapeutic programs
July 28 2021 - 9:11AM
atai Life Sciences (“atai” or the
“Company”) (Nasdaq: ATAI), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of
mental health disorders, and UniQuest, Australia’s leading
university technology transfer company commercializing the research
of The University of Queensland (UQ), today announced the launch of
InnarisBio Inc. (InnarisBio), to develop a novel sol-gel intranasal
drug delivery technology to improve treatments for mental health
disorders.
InnarisBio aims to commercialize the sol-gel intranasal drug
delivery platform technology developed in the laboratory of UQ
researcher Dr. Harendra (Harry) Parekh at the School of Pharmacy in
the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences. The platform
technology, which also includes a patent filing, was licensed to
InnarisBio by UniQuest. Under the terms of the license, InnarisBio
will receive exclusive rights in their desired fields.
The sol-gel technology is designed to deliver pharmaceutical
compounds as a liquid at room temperature which becomes a gel at
body temperature. The platform technology has been successfully
utilized with both water soluble and insoluble compounds and
extracts.
Traditional drug delivery methods can be problematic in the
treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders due to the
blood–brain barrier that restricts the CNS entry of therapeutic
agents, thereby decreasing drug efficacy. A potential solution is
direct nose-to-brain delivery. It has the potential to be a
painless and non-invasive administration route and may offer
additional advantages such as increased patient compliance, lower
dose requirements than oral administration, rapid onset of action
and minimized systemic exposure, which may reduce the risk of
peripheral toxicity.
“InnarisBio aims to be a revolutionary technology company for
intranasal drug delivery in the treatment of CNS disorders. Dr
Parekh and his team at The University of Queensland have worked
diligently to develop a platform technology that may mitigate many
of the drawbacks typically associated with traditional drug
delivery in the CNS space,” said Florian Brand, CEO and co-founder
of atai Life Sciences. “This novel technology has the potential to
be superior to other intranasal drug delivery methods available by
improving absolute uptake and duration of uptake through
muco-adhesion in the nose, reducing dose administered and dosing
frequency. We plan to explore the potential use of this technology
for a variety of psychedelic and non-psychedelic compounds across
atai’s platform.”
“We are excited by the role that UQ’s licensed technology may
potentially play in solving one of the world’s most complex health
problems,” said Dr. Dean Moss, CEO of UniQuest. “This innovative UQ
technology could play a role in helping to tackle the scourge of
mental illness; it is an exciting development for the sol-gel
technology developed here at UQ and is another terrific example of
the power of UQ research to create meaningful change.”
Under the terms of the license, InnarisBio will receive
exclusive rights in their desired fields and UniQuest will receive
equity in InnarisBio along with the potential to receive future
development and commercial milestone payments and a royalty on
product sales.
InnarisBio will collaborate with UniQuest, UQ’s Dr Parekh and
his research team to formulate and develop bespoke sol-gel
formulations for several psychedelic and non-psychedelic compounds
nominated by InnarisBio.
About atai Life Sciences atai is a
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the
treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded in 2018 as a
response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in
the mental health treatment landscape. atai is dedicated to
acquiring, incubating and efficiently developing innovative
therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other
mental health disorders. atai's business model combines funding,
technology, scientific and regulatory expertise with a focus on
psychedelic therapy and other drugs with differentiated safety
profiles and therapeutic potential. By pooling resources and best
practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of
new medicines across its companies, seeking to effectively treat
and ultimately heal mental health disorders. atai's mission is to
bridge the gap between what the mental healthcare system currently
provides and what patients need. atai is headquartered
in Berlin, with offices in New York and London. For more
information, please visit www.atai.life.
About UniQuest
UniQuest is a leading university-based commercialisation
company, managing the intellectual property (IP) of The University
of Queensland (UQ). UniQuest has facilitated more than 100 start-up
companies built on UQ IP, a milestone unsurpassed by any other
Australian university. These companies have gone on to raise more
than $794M to take UQ technologies to market. The Queensland Emory
Drug Discovery Initiative (QEDDI), a division of UniQuest, is a
small molecule drug discovery and development facility translating
The University of Queensland and collaborator’s biomedical research
into new medicines to deliver faster health benefits. UniQuest is a
partner on the MRFF Biomedical Translation Bridge (BTB) Program
with MTPConnect.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any express or
implied statements contained in this press release that are not
statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking
statements, including without limitation statements regarding the
launch of InnarisBio and future activities thereunder, the
potential of sol-gel technology, and similar statements of a future
or forward-looking nature. Forward-looking statements are neither
promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected, including, without limitation, the important
factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in atai's
prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 21, 2021, as such factors
may be updated from time to time in atai's other filings with the
SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release
speak only as of the date hereof and accordingly undue reliance
should not be placed on such statements. atai disclaims any
obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking
statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise, other than to the
extent required by applicable law.
atai – Investor Contact:Greg WeaverChief
Financial OfficerEmail: greg.weaver@atai.life
atai – Media Contact:Anne DonohoeKCSA Strategic
CommunicationsPhone: +1 (212) 896-1265Email: atai@KCSA.com
UniQuest – Media Contact: Brooke BaskinManager,
Media and CommunicationsPhone: +61 7 3365 7480Mobile: +61 409 767
199Email: b.baskin@uniquest.com.au
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