Virpax® Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a company specializing in developing non-addictive products for pain management, post-traumatic stress disorder, central nervous system (CNS) disorders and anti-viral indications, today announced that it has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Translational Research which conducts and funds research on brain and nervous system disorders. Virpax will be partnering with the Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program (ETSP) whose mission is to identify novel agents to address unmet medical needs in epilepsy, including the identification of next generation products focused on addressing drug resistant epilepsy, disease prevention and modification. Under the CRADA, NINDS ETSP will evaluate Virpax’s NobrXiol™ product candidate that is being developed for the management of rare pediatric epilepsy. NobrXiol utilizes a unique intranasal Molecular Envelope Technology (MET) delivery platform for pharmaceutical-grade cannabidiol (CBD).

ETSP provides opportunities for researchers in the US and abroad to submit compounds for screening in a battery of rodent epilepsy and seizure models. There is no cost to participants for these tests and the ETSP staff provides advice on next steps for promising compounds. The Program has made important contributions to the development of numerous FDA-approved drugs for epilepsy, including Epidiolex®, the only FDA-approved cannabidiol (CBD) for the treatment of epilepsy.

“We are developing NobrXiol for the management of rare pediatric epilepsy and believe that with our MET delivery platform we may achieve higher bioavailability via the nasal route, faster onset and reduce side effects. This is an exciting collaboration for us and we look forward to working with this extremely knowledgeable group that is solely focused on the unmet medical needs of epilepsy,” stated Anthony P. Mack, Chairman and CEO of Virpax.

Source:virpaxpharma.com