Graft Polymer share flew on Friday after the biopolymer company it has filed a provisional patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office related to using its proprietary drug delivery technology for mental health treatments.
Graft Polymer shares were 35% higher at the time of writing.
The application, titled “Composition and methods for mental health disorders using a self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (SNEDDS),” covers using Graft Polymer’s SNEDDS platform to improve the delivery of therapeutics for generalised anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions.
Many mental health drug compounds have poor solubility, making effective delivery a challenge. Graft Polymer’s SNEDDS technology aims to enhance bioavailability, pharmacokinetics and stability to address this obstacle.
This patent filing follows the company’s announcement last week that it applied for similar protection for using SNEDDS to deliver addiction treatment drugs. The mental health application is part of Graft Polymer’s strategic shift to focus on healthcare after divesting its industrial plastics manufacturing unit earlier this month.
“We are delighted to announce further progress in leveraging our existing biopolymer intellectual property for additional important healthcare applications with substantial unmet medical needs,” said Anthony Tennyson, Graft Polymer CEO.