Shortwave Life Sciences hits major milestone with positive patent claim

Shortwave Life Sciences (PSY:Aquis AQSE) is working to transform Anorexia nervosa care through innovative approaches and treatments, including psychedelics.

Anorexia nervosa is a complex mental health condition as well as a metabolic disease, with one of the highest fatality rates. However, there is currently no FDA-approved pharmacological treatment for the condition, underlining an urgent need for innovation in this area.

To tackle this challenge, Shortwave Life Sciences has developed a novel drug based on psilocybin and another API, which Shortwave says provides an expanded mechanism of action and a therapeutic effect superior to psilocybin alone, impacting more than one group of receptors in the brain.

The company has developed its novel delivery method in the form of a buccal film. This method of administration is designed to be sensitive to patient needs, who may not want to swallow the medicine, and also provides higher bioavailability.

Positive patent report

Shortwave recently received its positive report from the PCT examining authority acknowledging all of its claims regarding its buccal film as novel, non-obvious and industrially applicable, marking a major milestone for the company.

Rivki Stern Youdkevich, CEO of Shortwave Life Sciences, commented: “This acknowledgement by the PCT committee is very important for us as we progress in our drug development path.

“The PCT’s examining committee’s report acknowledging all our claims as free of prior art confirms our belief in our patient-focused IP and drug development strategy. As we move to the national phase, we are reaffirmed in our mission of pioneering breakthrough therapies that transform the landscape of mental health care, especially psychedelics-based.”

With this IP confirmation, Shortwave has confirmed it can now begin to utilise its buccal film delivery platform, which is currently in clinical testing, in administering additional drug combinations including under licensing agreements with future potential partners.

Stern Youdkevich continued: “Our Buccal film, which is a topical route of administration applied in the cheek, allows our psilocybin-based drug combination to diffuse through the oral mucosa and enter directly into the bloodstream, providing better bioavailability and more rapid onset of action compared to oral administration because the medication does not pass through the digestive system and thereby avoids first-pass metabolism.

“We believe this can be extremely beneficial for anorexia nervosa patients who experience severe metabolism-related challenges. We are very excited to study this further in our upcoming clinical trials coming up.”

The company has stated that it is aiming for a rapid approval process through the FDA pathway for approval.