Therapeutic intervention for substance abuse disorders
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Addressing substance abuse disorders with a new therapeutic intervention that selectively modulates CB2R
About the Technology
Nearly 2 million Americans suffer from methamphetamine use disorder. The number of overdose deaths due to this disorder have been rising sharply and show no signs of slowing down. While there are FDA-approved pharmacotherapies for treating other SUDs such as opioid addiction, there are no approved medications for methamphetamine addiction.
Our team has successfully engineered a new generation of selective and potent compounds that selectively activate the G-protein-coupled cannabinoid receptor CB2R over CB1R and are non-psychoactive/non addictive. The initial application is treatment of methamphetamine addiction. Additional future applications may include opioid addiction, inflammatory pain, Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease.
We have demonstrated that our compounds are effective in rodent addiction models. The HIT Fund will support crucial animal studies that will validate this technology for treating brain disorders such as SUD, facilitating further clinical development and ultimately leading to first in human trials for treatment of methamphetamine addiction.
Team Members
Mehrdad Shamloo
Professor (Research) of Neurosurgery and, by courtesy, of Neurology and Neurological Sciences
