Treating Acute Agitation with Sublingual Film Formulation with Dr. Rob Risinger BioXcel Therapeutics

Dr. Robert Risinger is the Chief Medical Officer for Neuroscience at BioXcel Therapeutics, identifying molecules that have off-target indications to address unmet neurological diseases. The initial focus is on acute agitation and the molecules that will address this agitation in patients with bipolar and schizophrenia.  Their fast-acting sublingual film formulation is an advancement over the current regime of intramuscular injections.  The drug is also being studied for agitation related to Alzheimer's disease and at-home use to reduce the number of people who go to the emergency room for untreated agitation.  Rob explains, "For example, the medication, the active pharmaceutical ingredient dexmedetomidine, was used, for years, as an IV anesthetic. At very high doses, it can produce a level of sleep or sedation so patients can undergo surgery and medical procedures. But our algorithms identified the fact that this may affect the core causal mechanism, this kind of fight or flight reaction, that we believe is responsible for causing agitation in humans and, specifically, in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia." "The molecule itself has physical-chemical properties that allow it to get into the body quickly. We can use, essentially, very, very low doses compared to what is typically given for anesthesia purposes. So we tested this out systematically and came up with a new form and formulation, a sublingual film with mucoadhesive properties. And that allows us to diminish the agitation in patients experiencing these symptoms. The molecule itself has physical-chemical properties that allow it to get into the body quickly. We can use, essentially, very, very low doses compared to what is typically given for anesthesia purposes. So we tested this out systematically and came up with a new form and formulation, a sublingual film with mucoadhesive properties. And that allows us to diminish the agitation in patients experiencing these symptoms." @BioXcel #Neuroscience #Schizophrenia #BipolarDisorder #AlzheimersDisease #Agitation #AcuteAgitation bioXcelTherapeutics.com Download the transcript here