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Mebias Discovery Initiates a Phase I Clinical Trial of MEB-1170, a Novel Analgesic Drug Candidate for the Treatment of Pain and Prevention of Opioid Use Disorder

Philadelphia, PA, November 29, 2022 – Mebias Discovery Inc., a biotechnology company focused on drug discovery targeting G-protein coupled receptors, today announces its Investigational New Drug, MEB-1170, has entered Phase I human clinical studies.

Mebias developed a drug discovery platform (19Fluid) that efficiently generates drug candidates devoid of dangerous ontarget adverse effects associated with many currently marketed drugs targeting Gprotein coupled receptors. 19Fluid was used to develop MEB1170 which targets the mu-opioid receptor, a well validated target for pain, but avoids the on-target side effects associated with currently marketed opioid drugs. In preclinical models, MEB1170 is as effective as morphine and oxycodone in several pain models, does not impact respiratory function, does not require dose escalation, does not cause sedation or constipation, and shows no evidence of abuse liability. Together, these studies show the potential of MEB1170 to treat pain without opioid side effects.

The first-in-human study of MEB1170 will evaluate singleascending and multipleascending doses in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in healthy volunteers. In addition, preliminary assessments of efficacy and respiratory depression will be conducted with the cold pressor test and capnography.

“The importance of our goal, to replace existing opioid therapy with safe and effective new analgesics that avoid addiction liability as well as other serious opioid side effects, cannot be overstated.” — Scott Reines, M.D., Ph.D., Mebias’ Chief Medical Officer.

About the Opioid Crisis
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, opioidrelated overdose deaths have been steadily increasing since 2010 with a staggering 68,630 deaths in 2020. (https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates).

Mebias Discovery Funding

Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative, through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under award number UH3DA047700. The NIH HEAL Initiative is an aggressive transNIH effort to stem the national opioid public health crisis. Launched in 2018, the initiative focuses on improving prevention and treatment strategies for opioid misuse and addiction and enhancing pain management. The content in this press release is solely the responsibility of Mebias Discovery and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Mebias Discovery is also funded in part by BioAdvance, Viva BioInnovator, and Life Science Angels.

Source: Mebias Discovery

Posted: November 2022

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