RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Evecxia, Inc., a privately funded, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has licensed exclusive, world-wide rights to develop and commercialize novel formulations for improving the bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) from:
- National University of Singapore (NUS), acting through its Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS)
- National University Hospital (NUH)
- Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU), through its innovation and enterprise company NTUitive Pte. Ltd
The joint intellectual property licensed from NUS-NUH-NTU was developed using funding from the National Health Innovation Centre Singapore (NHIC) under its Innovation to Develop (I2D) grant scheme.
“This license agreement with DUKE-NUS, NUH and NTUitive strengthens our patent portfolio with additional protection, geographic coverage, and years of exclusivity to EVX-101, our lead product candidate,” said John Kaiser, CEO of Evecxia.
Under the terms of the agreement, Evecxia will immediately assume full development and commercialization of EVX-101 and any other product candidates emanating from the license agreement with Duke-NUS, NUH and NTU. In addition to an upfront licensing fee Duke-NUS, NUH and NTU will receive milestone and low single-digit royalty payments.
About Evecxia
Evecxia Inc. is a privately funded, clinical stage pharmaceutical company co-founded by Duke neuropsychopharmacologists, Dr. Marc Caron and Dr. Jacob Jacobsen. Evecxia is located in the Research Triangle Park, NC. Evecxia's primary mission is to develop and commercialize EVX-101 to treat patients suffering from disabling, common, and costly neuropsychiatric conditions in which current therapies, in many cases, are sub-optimal.
Evecxia is the first company dedicated to realizing the therapeutic potential of 5-HTP via specialized prescription combinations and drug delivery dosage forms.
About EVX-101
EVX-101 is a proprietary oral slow-release formulation of 5-HTP and low-dose carbidopa. Initially, EVX-101 will be developed and positioned as a first-choice adjunctive treatment in depressed patients responding inadequately to conventional antidepressants. As an antidepressant, the development of EVX-101, a new chemical entity (NCE), is uniquely de-risked because the therapeutic mechanism—elevating extracellular serotonin beyond the effect of conventional SSRI/SNRI antidepressants—enjoys human proof-of-concept (POC) for efficacy and safety.
For more information about the Company and its product candidate, visit www.evecxia.com or contact info@evecxia.com.