Rutgers Licenses New Non-Opioid Chronic Pain Treatment To Tonix Pharmaceuticals

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Rutgers University just granted Tonix Pharmaceutical exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize PW507, a new type of compound medicine invented by researchers at Rutgers for pain management.

Rutgers scientists say this new medicine has the potential to transform pain management andreduce the opioid epidemic.

Tonix Pharmaceuticals will rename and market PW507 as TNX-4900.

The compound was developed through a collaboration between Rutgers researchers William Welsh, PhD, a bioinformatics professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and associate director in cheminformatics at Rutgers Cancer Institute, and Youyi Peng, PhD, who until recently was senior bioinformatics specialist at the Rutgers Cancer Institute.

Welsh and Peng focused on the sigma-1 receptor (S1R), a molecular chaperone protein located in the endoplasmic reticulum and plasma membranes, which plays an important role in various pathological disorders, including pain. Thanks in part to a grant from the TechAdvance™ fund, they were able to develop PW507 (as well as other lead molecules) that proved to be antagonists to S1R, which meant that when paired with opioids, these compounds reduced opioid dosage as well as its adverse side effects.

“We used computer-aided and AI-driven approaches to design this new class of selective Sigma-1 receptor antagonists,” said Peng, who now serves as a consultant to Tonix. “TNX-4900 showed robust analgesic efficacy in multiple pain models and an encouraging safety profile, supporting its potential as a new non-opioid approach to treating neuropathic pain.”

“Our foundational research into TNX-4900 represents an important step toward developing non opioid solutions for chronic pain. We are pleased to see this innovation progress toward potential clinical application, which could address a critical need for safer pain management options,” said Welsh.

“Sigma-1 receptor antagonism has generated considerable scientific interest as a promising class of non-opioid, non-addictive analgesics,” said Seth Lederman, MD, president and CEO of Tonix Pharmaceuticals. “With our extensive experience studying and developing an FDA approved non-opioid-analgesic, we are well-positioned to oversee this new development program.We believe TNX-4900 has the potential to be best in class.”

To learn more about how the Rutgers Office for Research supports the commercialization and entrepreneurial efforts of Rutgers researchers, visit innovate.rutgers.edu