Blue4Pain

New analgesic to treat chronic pain from the Portuguese sea

Funding Institution | Fundo Azul
Project ID | FA_03_2017_008

Starting Date | 01/04/2019
Ending Date | 31/01/2024
Eligible Value | 1.242.383€
Approved Fundo Azul | 496.953€

Main Goals and Expected Results | Sea4Us’ proposal accommodates the investment needed to develop a product that aims to solve a global clinical problem (chronic pain, an untreated disease) through a solution originating from the Portuguese sea: analgesic compound from a marine invertebrate whose development passed the
proof of concept phase.

The rationale fuses with the ultimate goals: 1) to take the analgesic to the tests required in the Clinical Trial Application, i.e. to propose clinical trials (with humans) and thus 2) “test” the licensing market to a large pharmaceutical company (possible exit-strategy).

Sea4Us’ strategy is, while monitoring product development through human testing, to safeguard the nature and origin of the analgesic compound: the biodiversity of the Portuguese sea. This point is central because the innovative nature of the molecule lies precisely in the ingenuity of the ecochemical evolution of living marine organisms. The project is structured in 9 activities, namely: optimization of the scale-up process in order to safeguard the sustainability of the marine resource; non-clinical tests, divided into 5 activities – pharmacology, secondary pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, safety pharmacology and general toxicology; preparation of the Clinical Trial Application; promotion and dissemination (with special focus on the biotechnological value of the sea); project management. The Sea4Us team has strong expertise in the relevant fields of knowledge and will also be supported by researchers from R&D entities.