Normally when we we write about Revive Therapeutics (RVV.C), it’s generally to provide an update on their progress regarding their experimental COVID-19 palliative, Bucillamine. This update isn’t that, and comes with something of an object lesson that there’s more going on out there than just dealing with COVID-19, and so it is with this company. They’re not a one-trick pony, and they’ve got more going on behind the scenes thank you think.
Let’s consider, for example, the company’s oral thin-film delivery system and also their clinical studies with psilocybin at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
“We are expanding our product pipeline with a focus on psychedelic therapeutics incorporating our novel oral thin-film delivery technology with psilocybin, in which we have prototypes developed and we will move towards clinical studies with the University of Wisconsin-Madison along with other key industry partners. In addition, we are advancing our Phase I clinical study to evaluate the safety and feasibility of psilocybin in adults with Methamphetamine Use Disorder. Our initiatives in product development and clinical studies gives us a leading position in the psychedelic space,”said Michael Frank, chief executive officer of Revive.
Before COVID-19 flew out of the sky landed on our faces and impeded vision on anything but itself, the markets were positively aflutter with the possibility of psychedelics, and specifically psilocybin, as the next big entry into the legal, experimental medicinal market, with potential inroads into the recreational market.
Revive had made some rumblings about their proposed involvement in this market and then COVID hit and turned the volume down. The business impetus was now on finding a vaccine or treating symptoms. Meanwhile, behind the scenes and outside of coverage, Revive continued its research. It formed a partnership with the Reed Research Group out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and got to work developing its tannin-chitosan composite of orally dissolvable thin films, acting as a delivery system for therapeutic doses (generally, 20 milligrams) into the mouth. These are decently common delivery systems found throughout the cannabis industry, so for folks who have been paying attention to what’s going on in extracts, it shouldn’t be new.
Regardless, the company has received its final set of prototypes and is now preparing to ramp up their manufacturing for future clinical studies involving psilocybin and other psychedelics. The advantages of benefits naturally involve rapid onset times because of the rapid dissolving strip, and almost near direct entry into the bloodstream. No chewing. No water required. It doesn’t need to be digested, absorbed into the lymph via the intestines and transported to the liver, and the potential of improved therapeutic efficacy for diseases and disorders as yet underserved are joined with the flexibility the company enjoys to create dosing and tasteful options.
So tastes great and good for you is an option.
The company’s delivery system is compromised of all-natural, non-toxic, completely biodegradable and biocompatible composite that blends a tannin material and a chitosan material. Think tannins like the operative chemical in red wine and chito as in chitin, as in crab-shell material.
The tannin material is taken from a plant group with antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant and wound healing properties, while the chitosan material is derived from a crustacean group with blood-clotting and antimicrobial properties. The proposed psilocybin strips include rapid onset, controlled release potential, and may allow for a combination of extracts from mushrooms, at least in one formulation.
The company’s recently announced clinical trial is called “Phase I Study of the Safety and Feasibility of Psilocybin in Adults with Methamphetamine Use Disorder.” It’s principle investigator is Dr. Christopher T. Nicholas, and will be conducted at the School of Medicine and Public Health, and School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which holds a special authorization and a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration to perform research using psilocybin. The company will enjoy exclusive access to the intellectual property coming from the study.
—Joseph Morton
Full disclosure: Revive Therapeutics is an equity.guru marketing client.
