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UT Health San Antonio Receives $12 Million to Advance Opioid Use Disorder Drug

• UT Health San Antonio has been awarded $12 million to develop methocinnamox (MCAM) for opioid use disorder. • MCAM, a mu opioid receptor antagonist, blocks the effects of opioids like fentanyl, heroin, and oxycodone. • The funding will support MCAM manufacture for clinical trials and submission of an Investigational New Drug application to the FDA. • A Phase 1 clinical trial could potentially begin shortly after the IND application is submitted in early 2025.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) has secured a $12 million cooperative agreement from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse to further the development of methocinnamox (MCAM) as a treatment for opioid use disorder. MCAM is a mu opioid receptor antagonist with a long duration of action, designed to block the effects of opioids such as fentanyl, heroin, and oxycodone.

MCAM Development Program

Charles P. France, PhD, professor of pharmacology and psychiatry at the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, is leading the MCAM drug development program. France has studied MCAM for the past seven years at UT Health San Antonio.
The $12 million award will facilitate the manufacture of MCAM for upcoming clinical trials, the submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and potentially a Phase 1 clinical trial. According to France, the synthesis of MCAM has been significantly improved and scaled up to kilogram quantities in recent years.

Anticipated Timeline and Goals

France's laboratory will oversee the project and conduct additional basic research, while separate companies will handle MCAM manufacturing and manage the clinical trials. The team anticipates having the required MCAM material manufactured by the end of 2024 and plans to submit the IND application in early 2025. A clinical trial could potentially commence 30 days after the IND application submission.
France currently holds one patent and has three pending for various aspects of MCAM. He expressed optimism about the IND package and the prospect of moving forward with clinical trials.
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Reference News

[1]
University awarded $12 million to further develop opioid use disorder drug
news.uthscsa.edu · Sep 30, 2024

UT Health San Antonio awarded $12M to develop methocinnamox (MCAM), a long-acting mu opioid receptor antagonist for opio...

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