InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“InMed” or the “Company”) (TSX:IN; OTCQX:IMLFF), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing medications targeting diseases with high unmet medical need and leading the way in the clinical development of cannabinol (CBN), today provided an update on the impact of the global outbreak of COVID-19 on its business operations.
In early March, the Company began to implement guidelines of its Pandemic Preparedness Plan, including cancelling all corporate travel, exercising social distancing in the workplace and enabling all staff to work from home. The Company also began to interact on a more frequent basis with the numerous research vendors for all research and development programs to monitor their local situation with regards to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Eric A. Adams, CEO of InMed stated, “In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, InMed is taking all necessary measures to ensure, first and foremost, the health and safety of our employees while also minimizing the impact to our ongoing operations. We are closely monitoring all program activities with our numerous contract research organizations (“CROs”) on a daily basis. We are fortunate that our administrative, scientific and clinical teams are able to operate effectively while working remotely. We are committed to doing everything within our power to limit the possible negative effects on our long-term success.”
In regards to InMed’s INM-755 program, investigating CBN cream as a topical therapy to treat epidermolysis bullosa, the Company has been in regular communications with the Center for Health and Drug Research in the Netherlands, which is the clinical site conducting the 755-101-HV Phase 1 trial. As this trial is nearing completion, InMed does not anticipate a significant disruption in the remaining treatments and collection of data. The Company is diligently preparing for the second healthy volunteer trial, Study 755-102-HV, at the same clinical site, scheduled to begin enrollment in mid-May. The ability to initiate enrollment according to the planned timeline will be assessed at a later date.
The INM-088 program remains on track. The Company anticipates being in a position to select an appropriate delivery formulation for INM-088 in the near term and continues to make plans for advanced preclinical testing in the Spring. The timelines to execute on this study will be determined by both the choice of the delivery formulation (i.e. an internal candidate vs. an external candidate) as well as the availability of the European CRO, in line with their current policies and working status during the pandemic.
Development activities with the Company’s biosynthesis manufacturing platform have not seen any negative impacts due to the outbreak.
Adams continued, “InMed’s executive team is proactively reviewing all expenditures in light of the continued uncertainty around the severity and duration of the virus spread and it is reasonable to expect some impact on our programs over time. We will be in a better position to provide guidance on any changes to development timelines during the next quarterly update teleconference in May.”
