Around 20% of the world population suffers from chronic pain, and many people turn to opioids as their main source of relief.
Opioids can be efficient painkillers but come with considerable downsides. Side-effects like nausea, difficulties breathing or drowsiness have more short-term health implications, while addiction based around the high the drug induces can lead to serious risks, including overdose. There is an urgent need to find new pharmaceutical solutions for chronic pain and tackle the opioid crisis―between 2016 and 2018, over 11,500 Canadians died from opioid use.
To address this, AdMare BioInnovations, a Canadian life sciences venture, partnered with AmorChem, an early-stage venture capital fund, to launch Neurasic Therapeutics in June 2020. This new company, based on breakthrough research by neuroscientist Dr. Philippe Séguéla, aims to provide opioid-free drug therapies for pain relief.
“We all know somebody who suffers from chronic pain, whether it’s back pain, migraines or caused by a disease like cancer, but we have very few tools to treat this condition,” explains Dr. Séguéla, Chief Scientific Officer at Neurasic Therapeutics and a McGill University professor. “The social, economic and human cost of the opioid crisis is considerable.”
Replacing opioids
Neurasic’s innovations build on Séguéla’s scientific expertise―his lab at the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital (the Neuro) is renowned for its research on the cells and circuits involved in pain perception, known as ion channels.
Recent discoveries about the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pathological pain have led to new pharmaceutical strategies to address chronic pain. Neurasic’s drug therapy uses this research to target acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), a part of a cell that helps detect injuries in the brain and other tissues. Early research indicates that blocking ASICs could offer relief for patients with chronic pain conditions, eliminating the need for opiate-based drugs.
Collaboration with NeuroSphere
Although Neurasic Therapeutics wasn’t the first company Dr. Séguéla had created, he sought an advisor who was well-connected in the current Canadian start-up network to find investors and build partnerships.
Dr. Séguéla contacted Marc Lussier, NeuroSphere’s former Entrepreneur-in-Residence, to help shape the Neurasic pitch into a business-oriented presentation aimed at investors. According to Dr. Séguéla, NeuroSphere played a key role in the project’s early stages because it opened the door to collaborations with AmorChem and adMare, which both recognized his discovery’s potential.
In addition to help making these important connections, NeuroSphere invested $200,000 in the project through Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives (HBHL) and the Consortium Québécois sur la Découverte du Médicament (CQDM) SynergiQc program.
AdMare played a major role in advancing Dr. Séguéla’s work by generating valuable intellectual property and by offering expertise in start-up management. The validation provided by this collaboration with adMare was also an important factor in AmorChem’s decision to invest in Neurasic.
Advice for future entrepreneurs
Dr. Séguéla provided four key tips for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when launching a new venture:
- Follow the advice of people who are in the business and who know the critical steps to get investors, clients or partners interested in your work.
- The best way to know if your expertise can fit the needs of stakeholders is to know your market and identify your niche.
- Your innovation must respond to a real need and solve an actual problem. Coming up with an idea is not enough―offer something concrete that people can use, test and improve.
- Know if there is an intellectual property value to be sought for your discovery, and if so, to protect it as quickly as possible. This makes finding investors much easier.
