Startup Licenses UA Technology Targeting to Relieve Acute Depression Faster
Tucson, Ariz. – Biopharmaceutical startup Akhu Therapeutics, Inc.(link is external) (Akhu) has exclusively licensed a technology developed at the University of Arizona and Texas A&M AgriLife Research (a member of The Texas A&M University System) that represents a new direction for therapies to treat depression and associated disorders like anxiety.
The new technology – a peptide-based melanocortin (MC5R) blocker – was originally invented by a collaborative team consisting of UA Research Professor Minying Cai, Ph.D., and Professor Victor Hruby, Ph.D., of the Hruby Peptide Group in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the UA College of Science, and also of the BIO5 Institute(link is external), and Caurnel Morgan, Ph.D.(link is external), founder of Akhu, previously of Texas A&M.
“We believe this might be a possible breakthrough discovery for the melanocortin system for the treatment of neuro-disorders like anxiety and depression,” says Cai.
The license will enable Akhu to develop innovative therapeutics that act on the melanocortin system. The company plans to develop molecules that selectively block the MC5R receptor, a mechanism of action that differs fundamentally from currently available antidepressants and anxiolytics.
“We’ve shown that there’s great potential for MC5R blockers,” says Morgan, “and our expectation is that this technology can start helping people within hours as opposed to having to wait weeks for a therapy to start working… Our expectation is that this technology will also help reduce side effects such as headaches, nausea and insomnia, which are associated with the main current therapies.”
Prior to founding Akhu, Morgan served as a scientist at Texas A&M and Weill Cornell Medical College before that. He did postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Oregon Health & Science University.
Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), the office of the UA that commercializes the inventions stemming from University research, facilitated the licensing process.
”This innovation is exciting as it represents first-in-class molecules, signifying a novel therapeutic approach to combating devastating psychological diseases such as depression,” says Paul Eynott, Ph.D., M.B.A., the TLA licensing manager for the College of Science.
The human MC5R is present in regions of the brain involved in survival, stress, and mood regulation.
MC5R blockers seem to be unique in that they improve depression- and anxiety-related behaviors in laboratory animals. Because such behaviors predict antidepressant and anxiolytic efficacies, the results suggest strong potential for efficacy in humans.
According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, in 2014, 15.7 million U.S. adults aged 18 or over had at least one major bout with depression in the past year, equaling 6.7 percent of the adult U.S. population.