Amorsa Therapeutics announced its patent application for deuterated norketamine and related NMDA receptor modulators was allowed for issuance as a new patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This patent is set to expire in 2035 and further strengthens Amorsa's intellectual property portfolio, which is wholly owned by the Company.
Ketamine, currently only FDA-approved for use as an anesthetic, has been shown in several randomized, placebo-controlled trials to produce rapid antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression and also be a potent analgesic for moderate-to-severe pain. However, there are several issues currently limiting ketamine's use, including relatively poor pharmacokinetic properties, invasive administration and dissociative side effects. Amorsa's novel deuterated norketamine compounds are intended to address these limitations and, if approved, would significantly enable the broader adoption of ketamine-based therapeutics.
"This patent covers numerous deuterated analogs of ketamine's primary active metabolite, norketamine. These novel compounds are intended to address serious unmet medical needs in multiple CNS disorders and, as compared to ketamine, reduce the potential for dissociative side effects, extend the duration of action and enable convenient oral administration while still maintaining ketamine's therapeutic benefits," said Joe Blanchard, Amorsa's Chief Executive Officer.
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