BioCentury
ARTICLE | Clinical News

BlackThorn brings KOR antagonist into clinic

June 8, 2018 7:19 PM UTC

BlackThorn Therapeutics Inc. (San Francisco, Calif.) began a Phase I trial evaluating up to seven single and multiple ascending doses of BTRX-335140 to assess dose exposure and safety in about 90 healthy volunteers. The company expects data in 1H19 from the double-blind, placebo-controlled, U.S. trial.

BlackThorn is developing BTRX-335140, a kappa opioid receptor (KOR; OPRK1) antagonist, as a therapeutic for neurobehavioral disorders associated with dysregulation of brain circuits. The company, which discovered the compound in partnership with The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, Calif.), said KOR could prove to be a therapeutic target for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatment-resistant depression, adjunct therapies for schizophrenia and prophylactic therapies for migraine...