AgriThera is a Georgia-based pharmaceutical startup founded by prominent Emory researchers and drug developers, Drs. Dennis Liotta and Stephen Traynelis. The company focuses on bringing new cannabinoid therapeutics for the treatment of seizure disorders, chronic pain, and anxiety to market.

Under a strategic partnership with Emory University, AgriThera is developing novel cannabidiol (CBD) prodrugs, i.e., new chemical entities that metabolize to CBD in the body, to address the deficiencies in earlier clinical applications of CBD. Their prodrugs, licensed from Emory University, improve pharmacokinetics and alter distribution in favor of brain penetration, bringing out the therapeutic properties of CBD in increasingly efficacious drugs.

Because CBD, in an oil-based formulation (Epidolex®), is approved by the FDA for treating certain seizure disorders, the CBD prodrugs developed by AgriThera are expected to be eligible for an expedited FDA regulatory pathway, i.e., 505(b)(2). Additionally, AgriThera’s diverse library of CBD prodrugs and analogs uniquely positions the company to bring a daily oral pill formulation to market.