TORONTO– FSD Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGE) (CSE: HUGE) (FRA: 0K9), a life sciences holding company dedicated to building a portfolio of assets and biotech solutions, announced today that it is sharing pre-clinical data, supported by an explanatory video, demonstrating the potentially disease-modifying effects of Lucid-MS, the Company’s lead drug candidate for the potential treatment of multiple sclerosis (“MS”), in the animal models of MS.
Based on more than a decade of research, Lucid-MS is a patented neuroprotective new chemical entity (“NCE”) that affects protein citrullination and myelin structure, which are associated with the severity of MS lesions. In order to demonstrate the unique potential therapeutic value of this Lucid-MS, the Company has released a video explaining its pre-clinical results, including visual evidence of functional recovery on pre-clinical subjects, which can be accessed here. You can also access the video at www.fsdpharma.com.
The featured study uses an Experimental Autoimmune Encephalitis (“EAE”) mouse model, a commonly used immune-mediated mouse model of MS. MS is typically characterized as an autoimmune disease. Ten days following immunization with the antigen, mice received 1 milligram of Lucid-MS or saline (placebo). Test subjects were monitored for 50 days and were continually assessed for clinical symptoms; those that received Lucid-MS demonstrated an improvement in clinical score, compared with subjects that received placebo. For example, on Day 42, one of the Lucid-MS-treated subjects demonstrated functional recovery with a score of 0.5, compared with a score of 3 on Day 3 (lower clinical score indicates better condition of the subject), and by the end of the study, the subject showed clinical signs similar to those in a healthy mouse (as seen in the video).
“Lucid-MS has demonstrated the potential to prevent the degradation and help re-establish myelin which is evidenced by the functional recovery of mice as well as immunohistochemistry in this study, and several other studies in preclinical animal models,” said Dr. Lakshmi P. Kotra, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Lucid Psycheceuticals Inc. (“Lucid”), FSD Pharma’s wholly-owned subsidiary. “This effect holds good promise for further development as a potential treatment for MS, and the biochemical mechanism of Lucid-MS represents a potential industry first in treating MS. We are eager to advance Lucid-MS to the clinic as quickly as we can.”
FSD Pharma is also advancing the development of its other drug candidates, including Lucid-PSYCH, a psycho-active molecule targeted to treat Major Depressive Disorder, and FSD-PEA, an anti-inflammatory compound.
