Our goal is seizure-free lives
Our aim is to create flexible epilepsy treatment options that give control back to patients.
Neuractas is a preclinical pharmaceutical company based in Kingston, Ontario focused on developing therapies for neurologic diseases.
Our initial programs are generated through our patented Deucana™ cell-free enzymatic synthesis platform, developed in collaboration with Invizyne Technologies.
Despite the widespread use of cannabinoids like CBD and THC as medical treatments, these agents are poorly absorbed and must be taken multiple times per day. With Deucana™, Neuractas aims to produce cannabinoids with ideal drug-like properties.
About Us
Our Deucana™ platform uses purified enzymes to produce cannabinoids with unprecedented yield and modifiability.
Deucana™ allows for the production of deuterated cannabinoids that are metabolized much slower than their natural counterparts.
Our initial program is a deuterated cannabidiol (dCBD) for the treatment of severe epilepsy, like that seen in Dravet Syndrome.
Deucana™ and our modified cannabinoids
Giving control back to the patient
As many as a third of patients with epilepsy continue to have seizures despite treatment.
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Epilepsy is a brain disorder marked by a predisposition to develop seizures. As many as a third of patients with epilepsy continue to have seizures despite treatment.
Congenital epilepsies, like Dravet Syndrome, are often caused by mutations resulting in abnormal brain chemistry. Patients with congenital epilepsy are limited in the number of therapeutic options available to them.
CBD is often a component of treatment for severe epilepsies, however in its current form it is needed in high doses and multiple times per day.
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Deuterium is a non-radioactive isotope of hydrogen, most commonly found commercially in “heavy water” or deuterium oxide.
Deuterium is found in nature as approximately 0.002% of all hydrogen.
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Compared to hydrogen, deuterium forms stronger chemical bonds. When placed at sites which would normally be targets for metabolic breakdown, deuterium can significantly slow down drug breakdown.
There are two FDA-approved deuterated drugs and many more in development.
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Deuterium is incredibly safe at the low levels used in drugs.
Studies have used heavy water to investigate how our bodies handle water. When about 20% of the body’s water is replaced by heavy water ill-effects begin to be experienced.
Our Team
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Andrew Lingard MD, MSc
CEO & FOUNDER
Dr. Andrew Lingard is a board-certified pathologist and senior resident physician in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Queen’s University in Kingston. He has neuropathology training from McGill University, the Roswell Park Cancer Center, and the Mayo Clinic. He is an alumnus of the McGill-CIHR Drug Development Training Program, during which he focused on novel therapies for brain cancer. He is Yale University’s incoming Molecular Genetic Pathology Fellow for 2024.
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Julia Jacobs-LeVan MD, MSc
CLINICAL ADVISOR
Dr. Julia Jacobs-LeVan is the Director of the Epilepsy Program at Alberta Children’s Hospital’s as well as the co-leader of the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Program of Freiburg University in Germany. Dr. Jacobs is passionate about bringing new therapies to patients with epilepsy through her role as a clinician-scientist running clinical trials.
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Peter Carlen MD, FRCPC
SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR
Dr. Peter Carlen is a neurologist, epileptologist, and professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He was previously the Director of the Krembil Research Institute at Toronto Western Hospital. Dr. Carlen currently works as a Senior Scientist and has over 300 publications in the field of neurophysiology.