HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Vyripharm International, Inc. (VI), which is located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, announced today that it has executed a memorandum of understanding with National Yang-Ming University (NYMU), a research institution in Taipei, Taiwan.
About the institutions
NYMU is famous for its research in medicine, life sciences, and biotechnology. Their Brain Research Center and Translational Medical Imaging Center is one of the leading institutes in cognition and behavioral research, along with functional and structural brain imaging. NYMU has worked extensively with various experimental models for neurological disorders, including PTSD and TRD.
Vyripharm’s drug platform technology is a personalized medicine application for diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of some infectious diseases, neurological disorders and cancers. Their VYR-206 platform provides a means for labeling diagnostic and therapeutic agents to allow for tissue specific targeted diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy.
The two institutions intend to work together to develop the bio-distribution information and targeting profile of VYR-206 for diagnosis and monitoring treatment outcomes of neurological disorders.
About the science
The endocannabinoid system’s integration into the central nervous system (CNS) and immune system is extremely complex. The exact roles cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) play in the endocannabinoid system (ECS) remain a mystery. This makes development of therapies highly challenging.
Vyripharm developed VYR-206 to functionally target the endocannabinoid system (ECS) through specific binding to CB1 receptors, which are expressed in many neurological disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and neuropathic complications with diseases such as diabetes. Although effective treatment has remained elusive for such disorders as PTSD and TRD, CB1 receptors may serve as an efficacious target for therapy. The hope is that VYR-206 will allow doctors to diagnose and monitor neurological disorders through targeting CB1 receptors.
The partnership will facilitate the investigation of the role of CB1 receptors as a diagnostic and therapeutic target in PTSD and TRD. A binding contract agreement with NYMU and VI is soon to follow.
