Awakn Life Sciences Corp. AWKN has officially announced the launch of a research program studying the use of ketamine in substance abuse disorder and behavioral addictions.

In a recent interview with Benzinga, Anthony Tennyson, CEO of the UK-based company, explained how Awakn’s research into ketamine will allow it to improve protocols for delivering treatment at its own clinics.

Research will be led by Professor Celia Morgan from the University of Exeter in the UK. 

The new program will consist of a late-stage clinical trial focused on alcohol use disorder and a mechanistic study focused on gambling addiction as well as intellectual property development activities.

Morgan said patients with alcohol use disorder these days are poorly served by existing treatments that are known to have very high relapse rates. 

“Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy has the potential to deliver a significant improvement on existing therapeutic strategies, and at Awakn we aim to prove this via a rigorous set of planned studies and trials,” Morgan added.

Ketamine, today a legally prescribed anesthetic drug, is widely used in an off-label capacity for the treatment of a host of mental health conditions, although clinical research leading to standardized protocols has been scarce.

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