P2D Bioscience, which is developing a drug to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
The Cincinnati-based company will use the grant to fund preclinical studies of its lead drug candidate, PD2007, and the money should take the company to the point of filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to a statement. Approval of the IND would give the company the right to begin testing in humans.
The company says its drug has the potential to be safer than other ADHD drugs on the market like Adderall and Ritalin because it doesn’t bring with it the addictive side effects.
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CEO Frank Zemlan said that he believes an ADHD drug that’s proven to be as effective as the leading drugs on the market without the side effects could “dominate” what he puts as a $3.5 billion market for the drugs.
The company, which has a strong presence in India with two executives located in the Asian country, is looking to raise $4 million to $5 million in private investment to fund further testing of PD2007 and other anti-inflammatory drug candidates, Zemlan said in April. Zemlan anticipated obtaining the funding primarily from Indian investors. That cash would be used to fund early clinical trials, which Zemlan hopes could lead to a licensing or partnership deal with a big pharmaceutical company.
As of 2007, 5.4 million U.S. children aged 4 to 17 had been diagnosed with ADHD and about half that amount were receiving treatment for it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s probably pretty safe to say that percentage would rise if parents could choose a drug without side effects.
