Under the partnership, the college will support the development of new and commercial delivery forms of low dose Naltrexone in the form of oral capsules and tablets and topical creams, apart from developing commercial forms of Met-Enkephalin (MENK).
TNI BioTech believes that a low dose version of Naltrexone in combination with MENK could help in treating various diseases, while the same drug could be effective in treating HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune diseases.
If the trials prove effective, the drugs will be manufactured by College of Pharmacy’s Center for Drug Research and Development after receiving necessary regulatory approval.
The project will be led by Joseph Fortunak, who is an associate professor of chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences in the Howard University Department of Chemistry and the College of Pharmacy.
TNI BioTech will also help the college in upgrading its Center for Drug Research through facilitation of funding, which on completion will provide additional revenue streams to the College of Pharmacy in addition to expanding its operations to students worldwide.
Howard University College of Pharmacy currently has ongoing pharmacy projects in Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda.