Aether Therapeutics announced today it's finalized the negotiations with The Ohio State University as part of its effort to secure the exclusive license for the use of 6BMX.  Aether and its collaborators at The Ohio State University, led by Dr. John Oberdick and inventor and CSO, Dr. Wolfgang Sadee, have generated pre-clinical pivotal results for the use of 6BMX in a rodent, guinea pig, and rhesus monkey models.  

 

A First-in-Class Therapy

Multiple studies conducted Drs. Sadee and Oberdick have shown that 6BN is extremely potent in blocking peripheral opioid effects (e.g., on the GI tract) and is orally available in animal models.  These pharmacological properties offer the opportunity to prevent fetal dependence in utero, an entirely novel approach compared to the current symptom-based treatments.  With 6BN, the Aether team has demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of designing a drug candidate that protects selectively the fetal over the maternal central nervous system.  This approach further has the potential to suppress developmental impairment caused by opioid exposure, as the opioid signaling system appears early in gestation and balances maturation of the central nervous system

 

About 6BMX

6BMX is a first-in-class treatment strategy and the first drug of its kind to focus on treatment and prevention of NAS during the pregnancy and has the additional benefit of working with existing treatment practices of maintenance therapy. 

 

About Aether

Aether Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company based in Austin, Texas.  The Aether team combines a wealth of successful drug development experience with a leading researcher at The Ohio State University. 

 

Rick Hawkins, Chairman, is a career life sciences entrepreneur and has considerable experience in managing nascent companies, drug development, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology research.  He has founded over 10 biotech and medical device companies and is a master at bringing them to a successful exit.

 

Brian Cummings, President and COO of Aether Therapeutics, has started dozens of technology companies and headed technology commercialization offices at The University of Texas, The Ohio State University, and University of Utah, and brings his extensive commercialization and venture capital experience as a current team member at Alta Ventures.  Brian also founded Technium, an intellectual property marketplace that uses deep technology solutions and analytics to identify and maximize the commercial value of deep technologies; Technium analyzed the IP space for NAS treatment and Dr. Sadee’s research scored off the charts, which led to the quick assembly of this team to seize this unique technological opportunity. 

 

Dr. Wolfgang Sadee, Inventor and CSO, is the Felts Mercer Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, Chair, Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, and Director, Center for Pharmacogenomics, at the Ohio State Medical Center and Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Sadee’s research focuses on pharmacogenomics of drug response and toxicity, leading the XGEN group at OSU Dr. Sadee has published over 300 research papers and monographs.