Auris Medical Closes Two US Patent Acquisitions Related to the Use of Betahistine for the Treatment of Depression and ADHD

Auris Medical Holding (NASDAQ:EARS) has announced it has closed the purchase of two US patents for use of betahistine to treat depression and attention-deficit /hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

As quoted in the press release:

The Company acquired full ownership of the US patents 8,119,668 and 8,242,148, “Treatment methods employing histamine H₃ receptor antagonists, including betahistine,” with key claims directed towards the treatment of depression and ADHD, respectively.

“We are very pleased to add two more patents to our growing portfolio of betahistine related intellectual property, which now comprises five issued US patents,” commented Thomas Meyer, Auris Medical’s founder, Chairman and CEO. “ADHD and atypical depression are frequent mental disorders that can have a substantial impact on an individual’s day-to-day function and quality of life. Based on betahistine’s mechanism of action and supportive preliminary data, we expect it to offer therapeutic benefits also in the treatment of these two conditions. The magnitude of such benefits will potentially be further augmented by our intranasal delivery approach, which provides significantly higher bioavailability compared to the currently established oral delivery approach.”

In the US, ADHD is estimated to affect 8.8% of children between the ages of 4-17 years¹ and 4.4% of the adult population.² The disorder manifests with symptoms such as hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. As demonstrated by the two inventors in a study with 16 adult ADHD patients, treatment with a high dose of oral betahistine resulted in a statistically significant improvement in surrogate markers for cognitive outcomes, attentional sensitivity in the Continuous Performance Task and inhibition in the Go/No-Go task, compared to placebo (p=0.02 and 0.004).³

Click here to read the full press release.