atai Life Sciences launches InnarisBio to develop a more effective nose-to-brain delivery method

Germany-based biotech ATAI Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders, and UniQuest, Australia’s leading university technology transfer company commercializing the research of The University of Queensland (UQ), today announced the launch of InnarisBio Inc, to develop a novel sol-gel intranasal drug delivery technology to improve treatments for mental health disorders.

InnarisBio aims to commercialize the sol-gel intranasal drug delivery platform technology developed in the laboratory of UQ researcher Dr Harendra (Harry) Parekh at the School of Pharmacy in the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences. The platform technology, which also includes a patent filing, was licensed to InnarisBio by UniQuest. Under the terms of the license, InnarisBio will receive exclusive rights in their desired fields.

The sol-gel technology is designed to deliver pharmaceutical compounds as a liquid at room temperature which becomes a gel at body temperature. The platform technology has been successfully utilized with both water soluble and insoluble compounds and extracts.