atai Life Sciences Announces Results from the Kures Therapeutics Phase 1 Trial of KUR-101
– This two-part phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers was designed to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics, and analgesic activity of KUR-101
– KUR-101 was well tolerated and demonstrated analgesic activity in two experimental pain models
– An assessment of the respiratory impact of KUR-101 was inconclusive as the positive control, oxycodone, failed to separate from placebo
– KUR-101, a deuterated derivative of mitragynine, is a low-potency, partial mu-opioid receptor (MOR) agonist designed to produce therapeutic effects without clinically significant respiratory depression
NEW YORK and BERLIN, Dec. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — atai Life Sciences N.V. (Nasdaq: ATAI) (“atai” or “the Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders, today announced additional clinical data from the Kures Therapeutics Phase 1 trial of KUR-101 in healthy volunteers. This two-part trial was designed to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and analgesic activity of KUR-101.
Part 1 consisted of a double-blind, randomized, 5-cohort single-ascending dose study to evaluate the safety and analgesic activity of a single oral dose of KUR-101 (10mg, 20mg, 40mg, 60mg, 90mg) in a total of 42 healthy volunteers. Analgesic activity was assessed by the cold pressor test (CPT) and impact on respiration was evaluated by measuring respiration rate at multiple time points. As previously reported, KUR-101 was well tolerated and produced dose-dependent analgesic activity without clinically significant effects on respiration at any dose-level tested, including at the 90mg dose level selected for the Part 2 comparator study.
Part 2 consisted of a randomized, double-blind, crossover study to evaluate the safety and analgesic activity of KUR-101 compared to both oxycodone and placebo. 18 healthy volunteers were enrolled and randomized into one of three sequences (6 subjects each). Each subject received single oral doses of KUR-101 (90mg), oxycodone (20mg), and placebo separated by a 7-day washout. Analgesic activity was measured by both CPT and thermal testing. Respiratory rate was assessed at multiple time points.
Results from part 2 showed that a single dose of 90mg of KUR-101 was generally well tolerated and was observed to produce analgesic effects on CPT comparable to those seen in Part 1 of this trial. The analgesic effects of KUR-101 were less than those seen with oxycodone on both CPT and thermal testing. Further, both KUR-101 and oxycodone demonstrated effects on respiration comparable to placebo, thus precluding definitive conclusions of KUR-101’s respiratory impact.
“We are pleased that KUR-101 was both well tolerated and demonstrated clinical activity in healthy volunteers. As the data comparing the respiratory effects of KUR-101 to both oxycodone and placebo are inconclusive at this stage, additional research will be needed to further characterize the therapeutic potential of KUR-101,” said Florian Brand, CEO and Co-Founder of atai.
About KUR-101
Current OUD therapies like buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone show limited efficacy for many patients and come with inconvenient treatment regimens, side effects, and barriers to access due to abuse liability. In contrast, KUR-101 is an atypical opioid receptor modulator with a unique pharmacology that may make it safer for chronic use. Its deuteration improves its pharmacokinetic and overall safety profile while reducing dosing requirements.
About atai Life Sciences
atai Life Sciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. Founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape, atai is dedicated to acquiring, incubating, and efficiently developing innovative therapeutics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health disorders.
By pooling resources and best practices, atai aims to responsibly accelerate the development of new medicines across its companies to achieve clinically meaningful and sustained behavioral change in mental health patients.
atai’s vision is to heal mental health disorders so that everyone, everywhere can live a more fulfilled life. For more information, please visit www.atai.life
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About Kures Therapeutics
Kures Therapeutics, an atai Life Sciences Company, is a spinout from Columbia University and is developing KUR-101 for the treatment of OUD and acute pain. KUR-101 is a deuterated derivative of mitragynine, the major alkaloid in kratom leaves that is a relatively low-potency mu-opioid receptor (MOR) agonist. It is a semi-synthetically produced drug substance designed to improve the safety profile and potential effectiveness of mitragynine. In results from our preclinical studies carried out to date, KUR-101 has shown dose-dependent analgesic effects without inducing significant respiratory depression at therapeutic doses in animal models.
