Serotonin receptor agonists for prevention and treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders
This technology is a prophylactic therapeutic to enhance stress resilience and reduce the burden of psychiatric disease in high-risk populations.
Unmet Need: Effective and persistent method to protect against psychiatric disease
Current methods to treat stress-related psychiatric disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are chronic antidepressant pharmacotherapy and behavioral therapy. However, these medications, including selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are often ineffective, only suppress symptoms, and have various side effects. There is a need to enhance stress resilience prior to exposure and prevent psychiatric disease, especially in high-risk populations, such as military personnel.
The Technology: Serotonin receptor agonists as potential prophylactic pharmaceuticals
This technology describes a set of type IV serotonin receptor (5-HT4R) agonists that can protect against stress-induced fear and behavioral despair to prevent psychiatric disease. Clinical data suggest that treatment with an agonist of this receptor is associated with reduced incidence of depression, and several agonist small molecule analogs preliminarily show enhanced stress resilience in acute models of stress. With compound screening, there is potential to use a 5-HT4R agonist to prevent stress-induced psychiatric disorders in high-risk populations.
This technology has been validated in both male and female mice.
Applications:
- Prophylactic treatment for stress-related psychiatric disorders, such as MDD and PTSD
- Improved stress resilience in high-risk populations, such as military/medical personnel, public safety/humanitarian officers, and oncology patients
- Treatment for other serotonin-related impairments, such as in the gastrointestinal tract
- Research tool for studying functions of serotonin receptors and agonists in various diseases
Advantages:
- More effective than psychotherapy-based resilience trainings
- Self-maintaining resilience-enhancing effects similar to vaccines
- Treatment of diseases with no cure beyond symptom management
- Reduction in financial burden of chronic antidepressant/psychotherapy treatment
Lead Inventor:
Patent Information:
Patent Pending(WO/2026/055498)
Related Publications:
Tech Ventures Reference:
IR CU22196
Licensing Contact: Cynthia Lang