Algernon Pharmaceuticals (AGN.C) and Charles River Laboratories agreed to have the latter handle Algernon’s DMT pre-clinical studies for their stroke clinical research program today, according to a press release.
The news comes after Algernon’s recently announced clinical research program on the effects of DMT in the treatment of stroke, which they plan to kick off as soon as possible in 2021. Charles Rivers Laboratories is an American corporation with a specialty in preclinical and clinical lab services for the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech industries, involved from various angles, such as supply of biomedical products as well as research and development outsourcing services.
“The Company is very pleased to have retained Charles River Labs, a trusted vendor that we have worked with before on other research projects. They have all of the necessary permits and licenses to handle DMT which will allow us to move quickly with our research program. They are a recognized world leader for pre-clinical neurological studies,” said Christopher J. Moreau, CEO of Algernon Pharmaceuticals.
Algernon is primarily a drug re-purposing company that takes drugs that the FDA has already designated safe and approved, which includes compounds occurring naturally, and tries to find new and novel uses for them. They set up and perform the clinical trials and jump through the regulatory approval steps in global markets, and specifically target compounds that haven’t ever been approved in the United States or Europe to avoid off label prescription writing.
Algernon’s decision to investigate DMT and move it into human trials for potential uses for stroke is based on positive results from preclinical trials that showed that DMT helps promote something called neurogenesis, and structural and functional neural plasticity. Neurogenesis is the process by which new neurons are formed in the brain, and neural plasticity. Neural plasticity, or neuroplasticity as it’s also known, is the brain’s ability to change through growth and reorganization. It’s the reason why we should all try something new, like learning to play guitar or take up chess or T’ai Chi in our old age, because it enhances neuroplasticity.
Algernon’s preclinical study of DMT will be conducted at the Charles River research facility in Finland.
Algernon’s share price went up by 11.3% today, and is hovering around $0.295.
—Joseph Morton
