Neuropathic pain is exceptionally difficult to treat. But, there’s a publicly traded biotech company who wants to change that through something new: a novel ketamine analog.

‍What’s happening:‍

• MIRA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MIRA) has officially designated neuropathic pain as the initial and primary indication for their novel oral ketamine analogue therapeutic known as Ketamir-2
  

Why it matters:‍

• MIRA Pharmaceuticals previously announced compelling pre clinical data showing that Ketamir-2 significantly reduced pain symptoms without the sedative effects traditionally associated with ketamine
  
• Neuropathic pain has very few effective therapeutic options and patients are often prescribed opioids as a treatment, which have high risks of addiction and often cause severe untended side effects
  

Going deeper:‍

• MIRA Pharmaceuticals has officially requested a pre-Investigational New Drug meeting with the United States Food and Drug Association to advance Ketamir-2 into human clinical trials
  
• Ketamir-2 is potentially disruptive as a therapeutic treatment as it does not contain any of the dependency risks of opioids and it also is classified as a non-controlled substance in the United States of America unlike ketamine in its traditional form, which gives it broader accessibility to be prescribed to patients
  
• Traditional ketamine treatments usually rely on infusions or patches which are invasive, which is another problem MIRA Pharmaceuticals is aiming to solve with their oral ketamine analogue which patients take as a pill

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