- Lexaria’s recent animal study on its patented DehydraTECH(TM) technology on nicotine absorption yielded ground-breaking results
- This study builds on an earlier 2018 study that demonstrated effective delivery of nicotine to the central nervous system in a rodent study
- The study’s success will serve as the foundation for a human trial that will compare the DehydraTECH-nicotine pouch performance to leading brands
Zacks Small Cap Research recently did a deep dive on Lexaria Bioscience (NASDAQ: LEXX) and its contribution to alternative nicotine delivery. Its evaluation acknowledged that the global tobacco market is currently valued at $818 billion, mainly sustained by over 1.1 billion smokers. Smoking has been attributed to cancer, heart disease, stroke, and lung diseases, among other life-threatening conditions. In the United States alone, smoking is responsible for over 480,000 deaths every year and 8 million deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (“WHO”) (https://ibn.fm/Y1CL0).
Zacks also noted that according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), over 70% of U.S. smokers would like to quit. However, the nicotine replacement therapies (“NRT”) available in the market today, which include patches and gums, fail due to slow and low levels of nicotine delivered to the nicotine receptors in the brain, forcing affected persons to revert to smoking.
Tobacco companies have had to grapple with this challenge, compounded by legislation such as classifying products with more than 4mg of nicotine per dose as prescription drugs, as is the case with Canada. According to Zacks, there has never been such an immense need for a practical option for nicotine delivery that can bypass the existing hurdles already put in place, and deliver sufficient nicotine to deter smoking.
Lexaria has made a name for itself with its patented technology that improves the bioavailability of pharmaceuticals and therapeutics in part by bypassing first-pass-liver processing. Its subsidiary, Lexaria Nicotine Corp., has advanced its nicotine delivery research, building on its patented DehydraTECH(TM) technology. In a recent animal study highlighted by Zacks, NIC-A21-1, the company evaluated the improved methods of nicotine absorption as an alternative to combustible tobacco products in what was a very successful study.
Lexaria began research on the technology back in 2018. The initial investigation demonstrated effective delivery of nicotine to the central nervous system (“CNS”) in a rodent study, with nicotine polacrilex achieving 195% greater delivery and four-fold more rapid delivery across the blood-brain barrier (“BBB”) compared with the control. Zacks pointed this out as one of Lexaria’s primary strengths and a critical step towards pushing DehydraTECH to market.
Fast forward to 2021, and Lexaria, working together with an independent testing laboratory, conducted an additional study on canines.
This analysis evaluated nicotine benzoate and polacrilex plasma levels in these animals comparing Lexaria’s recently developed, advanced DehydraTECH 2.0 nicotine formulation to concentration-matched controls. The study involved 40 anaesthetized male beagle dogs that were assessed, and blood samples were taken every few minutes over the course of two hours.
In what Zacks also defined as another strength for Lexaria, the results from this study showed that the generic nicotine benzoate pouch required about 45 minutes to reach its peak delivery rate. In comparison, the DehydraTECH-nicotine benzoate pouch reached peak delivery rates at both 8 minutes and again at 30 minutes. It was further noted that in just 4 minutes after the pouch was placed in the mouth, the DehydraTECH-nicotine had reached a higher delivery level than the generic achieved at any point during the study.
While announcing the results, Chris Bunka, the Chief Executive Officer of Lexaria, noted, “We are extremely pleased with the performance of our latest DehydraTECH-2.0 nicotine oral pouch formulations in this study. Our technology was ten to twenty times faster in delivering comparable levels of nicotine into bloodstream than the peak of the concentration-matched controls and went on to far exceed their total delivery, which should provide much greater consumer satisfaction” (https://ibn.fm/TSZqq).
He further added, “Performance gains of this magnitude could be of great significance in enabling the oral pouch product category to offer improved nicotine satiety and effectiveness, with a goal of one day rendering pulmonary administration practices like smoking and vaping as obsolete.”
Zacks acknowledges that the success of this study will serve as the foundation for a more extensive investigation among human volunteers. This human trial will compare the DehydraTECH-nicotine pouch performance to leading brands, including Zyn (a product from Swiss tobacco company, Swedish Match) and ON! (a product from Altria Group). The research, which is currently in the design phase, will be independently funded with existing capital, with the announcement of further details being made as they become available.
Lexaria is optimistic that this human study will yield more positive findings to those evidenced in the previous 2018 animal study and align with the just-concluded dog study. With the nicotine oral pouch market ranked among the fastest-growing nicotine sectors globally, Lexaria believes that DehydraTECH is ideally suited and could revolutionize the nicotine industry as the first practical, reduced risk category to challenge smoking tobacco successfully.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaBioscience.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LEXX are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/LEXX
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