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The University of Oxford and Sound Pharmaceuticals completed this new Phase 2a study testing SPI-1005, an investigational drug that contains ebselen, as a new treatment for bipolar disorder.

Trees in the shape of two heads, one with green leaves in blue sky and the other with empty branches in grey sky.

Professor Phil Cowen, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, said,

“This work was done in collaboration with colleagues from the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford who discovered that a drug called ebselen had pharmacological properties similar to those of the mood-stabilising drug, lithium. Lithium is a very useful agent in bipolar disorder but is not well-tolerated and requires regular blood tests. Ebselen would be free from these problems.

"The study shows important preliminary evidence of therapeutic activity for SPI-1005 in bipolar disorder. This pilot investigation has given us critical information to inform design of future trials and has confirmed the safety of SPI-1005 in a group of patients with severe mental illness taking multiple medications.” 

The study was funded by the Stanley Medical Research Institute and the medication was supplied by Sound Pharmaceuticals.

To read the full press release

To read the full study, A phase 2a randomised, double-blind, plcebo-controlled, parallel-group, add-on clinical trial of ebselen (SPI-1005) as a novel treatment for mania or hypomania.