Eating disorders are often complex, hard-to-treat psychiatric conditions that lead to compulsions and dysregulation of habit formation, behaviour and mental state.
About 9% of the population worldwide suffer from eating disorders with anorexia nervosa (AN) having the highest mortality rate. Currently, there is no specific treatment for anorexia nervosa. Current treatment relies on traditional anti-depressant (e.g., Prozac or Anafranil) or anti-psychotic drugs (e.g., Zyprexa) or other neurotransmitter modulators (e.g., donepezil, memantine).
The collaborative research and drug discovery efforts of Drs. El Mestikawy and Pietrancosta unveiled key neurobiological mechanisms involved in habit formation. The team developed a first-in-class small molecule for the treatment of compulsions with a primary focus on eating disorders.
The team is looking to form a company and raise a pre-seed round of financing while leveraging the different non-dilutive grant opportunities to further characterize our new class of molecules, nominate a lead molecule and bring the candidate towards IND enablement.
Novel Therapeutics for compulsive disorders