"Love hormone" is going to be released as a nasal spray

Prader-Willi syndrome is a genetic pathology causing mental retardation, genital gland dysfunction and metabolic disorders. A lot of patients with this disease have behavioral features; they suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder and mood swings, which affect their quality of life.

Levo Therapeutics is an American company specializing exclusively in the development of remedies that make life easier for people with such syndrome. According to Levo Therapeutics press-release, the FDA has prioritized the consideration of an application for the analogue of oxytocin hormone LV-101 as a remedy for Prader-Willi syndrome therapy. Oxytocin, which is also known as the love hormone, is a neuropeptide that regulates social instincts in the brain. Numerous studies have shown that oxytocin generates a desire for personal relations, regulates the level of intimacy and enhances empathy and intuition as well.

According to Levo Therapeutics, oxytocin for intranasal administration was designed to provide an improved receptor binding profile compared to oxytocin - this ingredient has a greater affinity for the oxytocin receptor and lower affinity for the related vasopressin receptors. This oxytocin analogue was licensed by Swiss Ferring Pharmaceuticals in 2016. It has already been approved as a prevention of uterine atony and obstetric bleeding in more than 90 countries outside the United States. The number of patients receiving this remedy exceeds 10 million.

SOURCE: HEALIO