#NewAseBioMember| "We also see AseBio as an opportunity to stay aligned with regulatory, scientific, and market trends, while raising awareness around an emerging health challenge that demands both attention and action"

AseBio. What does your company's work bring to the table and what is its strength?

Disrupt Therapeutics was founded in Barcelona in 2023 with a clear mission: to develop innovative and effective pharmacotherapies for the treatment of substance use disorders, with a special focus on cannabis use disorder (CUD). This condition is increasingly recognized among young adults and is rising in prevalence globally, yet there are currently no approved treatments available. 

What we bring to the table is a novel treatment designed to reduce compulsive cannabis consumption, loss of control, intense cravings, and cognitive impairments—factors that significantly impact the functionality and emotional well-being of those affected.
Our approach is based on a disruptive scientific strategy that directly targets the neurobiological mechanisms involved in this addiction, with the goal of transforming clinical management and improving the quality of life for millions of people.

The lead asset is DRT-101, an oral peptide-based drug candidate currently in the preclinical phase, specifically designed to modulate the interaction between CB1 cannabinoid and 5-HT2A serotonin receptors in the brain— a molecular target recently identified as key in cannabis-induced addiction and cognitive decline. This therapeutic strategy not only aims to reduce the harmful effects of recreational use, but also provides a safe option for patients who require medical cannabis, allowing them to benefit from its analgesic properties at controlled doses, without developing dependence or experiencing memory loss.

Our greatest strength lies in the robustness of our scientific foundation, the pioneering approach we apply to therapy development, and a multidisciplinary team with extensive expertise in peptide-based drugs, neuropharmacology, biotechnology, and technology transfer. We operate from the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), in close collaboration with leading academic institutions such as Universitat Pompeu Fabra and several hospitals, which enables us to progress efficiently from research to clinical validation.

At Disrupt Therapeutics, we are deeply committed to turning clinical challenges into real therapeutic opportunities, driven by a biotechnology that delivers tangible impact and truly makes a difference in people's lives.

AseBio. What is AseBio for you?

At Disrupt Therapeutics, we see AseBio as much more than a leading platform for the Spanish biotech ecosystem for fostering collaboration, dissemination, and the growth of the biotechnology sector. It represents a strategic environment from which we can raise awareness around an emerging public health challenge: cannabis use disorder (CUD)—a condition that is becoming increasingly prevalent and still lacks effective therapeutic solutions. Through AseBio, we aim to elevate recognition of this unmet medical need and build fruitful alliances—with academic, clinical, corporate, and institutional partners—who share our vision of delivering tangible clinical solutions, such as an oral therapy with high adherence, designed to fit seamlessly into the daily lives of patients who often feel lost or disoriented.

We particularly value the opportunity to take part in AseBio’s thematic working groups, which offer a unique space to share experiences, identify opportunities, contribute to sector-wide proposals, and stay aligned with regulatory, technological, and market trends. These spaces, along with constant access to relevant and up-to-date information, allow us to stay in step with developments in the biotech ecosystem, anticipate key changes, and make more informed strategic decisions. We believe these collaborative environments can play a key role in accelerating the arrival of innovative therapies like ours to those who need them most.

AseBio. When did you first hear about AseBio?

As the CEO of other biotech companies and with several years of experience in the sector, I was already familiar with AseBio as a well-established reference within the Spanish biotechnology ecosystem. I have always followed and valued its role as a platform for connection, representation, and promotion of the sector, as well as its ability to foster strategic alliances and increase visibility for innovative projects.

In the case of Disrupt Therapeutics, our most direct and recent engagement with AseBio came through Sara Secall. Her involvement helped us clearly see the value of joining this network and aligning ourselves with a community that shares our ambition to turn biotechnology into real, measurable impact.

AseBio. What do you expect from being part of an association like AseBio?

We seek to generate synergies with other members—from startups to large companies—that can help us advance the development of therapeutic solutions in a field that remains largely unexplored, such as cannabis use disorder.

We also see AseBio as an opportunity to stay aligned with regulatory, scientific, and market trends, while raising awareness around an emerging health challenge that demands both attention and action. We aim to contribute our experience, our science, and our disruptive vision to enrich the ongoing dialogue around mental health, neuroscience, and innovative therapies within the biotech sector.

AseBio. What is the biggest challenge facing the biotech sector or your company?
One of the major challenges in the biotech sector continues to be the translation of academic research into clinical applications or marketable products. Bridging that gap requires overcoming significant regulatory, financial, and validation hurdles—particularly when working with early-stage, cutting-edge scientific discoveries.

In our specific case, we have faced substantial technical challenges, such as developing an oral drug capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier while ensuring both its stability in biological fluids and its efficacy in targeting the central nervous system—an especially complex process during the preclinical stage. Our most immediate challenge is to successfully complete preclinical toxicology studies and move toward clinical validation.

In the medium to long term, the key challenge lies in positioning an innovative and pioneering treatment in a field that remains largely unrecognized, such as cannabis use disorder (CUD), and in helping to mitigate the harmful effects associated with medical cannabis use, which is still not approved for many indications. This means not only advancing the technical development of the drug, but also raising scientific, medical, and social awareness around a real and underserved medical need.

Additionally, we aim for our treatment to offer high patient adherence and accessibility, which presents an added challenge: to innovate without losing sight of the real patient and their everyday context.