Hormonal treatment against social anxiety and social avoidance disorders

The modulation of specific endogenous hormonal flows in neural routes has been observed to allow the modulation of social interaction preferences, opening the door to new therapies against social avoidance disorders

Market need: The population suffering from social avoidance disorders (extreme introversion, social anxiety, separation anxiety) generally finds it difficult to develop a fulfilling and satisfying social life, leading to self-esteem problems, fear or isolation. The use of antidepressant or anxiolytic medications, although it may be effective in specific cases, generally does not provide long-term solutions, is associated with a series of unwanted side effects of significant severity, and its therapies are difficult to personalize and adapt to each person’s requirements. Therefore, there is a need to find new therapies that can effectively solve these problems.

Proposed solution: It has been observed that preference for novel interactions in individuals is regulated by the release of corticotropin in the rostral lateral septum. Therefore, an induced regulation of such release allows to modulate social interaction preferences, favoring the creation of new social relationships. This opens possibilities for personalized therapies against social anxiety disorders, which can reduce the side effects derived from generic chemical therapies with little specificity. Furthermore, as it is an endogenous hormone, the use of synthetic drugs is avoided and the production cost of the treatment is expected to be lower.

Competitive advantages

Therapy based on safe endogenous hormones, on which there are already advanced clinical studies for other applications.
It allows the design of therapies adapted to each person.
Presumably fewer side effects than with benzodiazepines or SSRIs.