U.K Based biotech company C4X Discovery believes they can cure addiction

A biotech firm named C4X Discovery, based in U.K recently received investments worth $294 million from a company called Indivior, to acquire rights to a drug that is supposed to cure addiction. C4DX stated that Orexin, the neurotransmitter, and especially the receptor OX1 has been extensively studied for its role in the reward and craving neuropathways in the brain. The progress in developing drugs that can interfere with and reduce cravings has been held back due to a lack of selectivity by drugs participants.

C4DX has teamed up with a German biotech firm named Evotec from 2015 on the orexin assignment, targeting on coming up with drugs to cure addiction that are mainly specific to OX1 and with the least off-target effects on OX2, which seems to be associated with wakefulness and is also being aimed at treating insomnia.

“Today’s licensing agreement with Indivior, a world-leader in developing and commercializing treatments for addiction, highlights the ability of our drug discovery engine to generate best-in-class small-molecule candidates in high-value therapeutic areas,” said Clive Dix, C4XD CEO.

“This agreement will allow us to accelerate the development of our portfolio to similar successful commercial arrangements and validates our business model,” he added.

Opioid is causing so much of a nuisance in the U.S that POTUS Trump signed an executive order in 2017 to escalate the situation to the status of a public health emergency.