Principal Investigator
Terence Hébert
McGill
Co-investigators
Paul Clarke
McGill
Graciela Pineyro Filpo
CHU Sainte-Justine
Peter Chidiac
The University of Western Ontario
Project of $1,126,452 over 2 years
- Supported by CQDM through:
Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie du Québec (MEIE) - And by co-funding partners:
– Diamond Therapeutics Inc.
– Brain Canada Foundation
Challenge:
Current therapies for mental health disorders fail to effectively treat a significant portion of patients. Psychedelic drugs show great promise as potential treatments, but their broader use is limited by hallucinogenic side effects. To make these therapies more practical and widely accessible, innovative approaches are urgently needed to minimize these undesirable effects.
Solution:
Many mental health treatments target G protein-coupled receptors, a group of proteins that act as switches on the cell surface, regulating critical processes within the body. Traditional drugs often activate all signaling pathways linked to these proteins, which can cause side effects. Recent scientific advances have enabled the selective targeting of specific pathways, paving the way for safer, more precise therapies. Leveraging these findings, the team aims to create new drug candidates that treat mental health disorders more effectively while reducing side effects.
Expected Achievements /Impacts:
By employing selective pathway modulation, the team will develop next-generation psychedelic therapies to address a range of mental illnesses. With the support of CQDM and Brain Canada, Diamond Therapeutics will design and build candidate drugs to advance innovative treatments towards clinical trials, marking a significant step forward in mental health care. Beyond improving patient outcomes, this research will position Québec as a leader in biopharmaceutical innovation, fostering local biotech startups, creating high-quality jobs, and strengthening Canada’s life sciences sector on the global stage.
