I-Corps: An adjuvant to improve the safety and tolerability of stimulant medications

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of an adjuvant technology that can be chemically combined with stimulant medications to enhance safety and tolerability. Stimulant drugs, such as d-amphetamine, are powerful medications that are used to treat a range of psychiatric and neurological conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), binge eating disorder, and depression. However, the risk of developing addiction to these compounds limits their utility. This limits physicians’ willingness to prescribe these drugs, and the Drug Enforcement Administration's scheduling of these compounds also limits their prescription. The proposed technology uses a neuroscience-guided approach to eliminate the rewarding properties and remove abuse liability of stimulant medications while enhancing their therapeutic effects. In addition, the proposed technology also may be applied to opioids to simultaneously enhance their analgesic effects and protect against addiction. This technology has the potential to improve treatment adherence and outcomes for those prescribed stimulant medications.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a pharmacological adjuvant that limits the abuse liability of stimulant medications. The proposed technology may be used to develop a new class of medications with low or no abuse liability. Data collected to date indicate that the technology also can enhance the therapeutic efficacy of stimulant medications for some indications. In addition, proof-of-concept studies indicate that the proposed adjuvant can be co-formulated with stimulants and opioids without affecting their stability, providing a platform technology that may be readily applied to improve the safety profile of many existing medications. The proposed technology may have applications to enhance the safety and tolerability for treatment with stimulant medications for a range of psychiatric and neurological indications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.