UAMS group recieves $14.5M to fund meth addiction therapies

A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences startup company received two federal grants totaling $14.5 million to develop drug therapies for people addicted to methamphetamines.

InterveXion Therapeutics LLC received the grants from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse, according to a UAMS news release.

The largest grant, $9.55 million over three years, will support research to determine if a methamphetamine vaccine will advance to human clinical trials, the release stated.

The vaccine could potentially stimulate an addict's immune system to produce anti-methamphetamine antibodies, according to UAMS.

The company will use the other grant, $5 million over three years, to produce an anti-methamphetamine antibody that keeps methamphetamines from entering the brain and other tissues, the release stated.

UAMS said the antibody has been successfully tested on adults in a clinical study.

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