Artelo Biosciences Stock Soars On Strong Preclinical Data In Par With Zoloft For Experimental Depression Drug

Shares of Artelo Biosciences, Inc. (ARTL) surged 57% on Monday afternoon after the company announced positive preclinical data highlighting the potential of its drug candidate in treating depression and anxiety.

The company said that a 28-day treatment regimen with ART12.11 significantly reversed behavioral impairments in male rats exposed to chronic stress, with efficacy on par with leading antidepressant medication, Sertraline (Zoloft).

ART12.11 improved sucrose preference and social motivation, which are established behavioral markers of depressive-like states, to near-baseline levels.

However, unlike Sertraline, ART12.11 reversed stress-induced deficits in both spatial and short-term memory without negatively impacting social memory, the company added.

Artelo added that the findings demonstrate the candidate’s potential as a candidate for treating depression and anxiety, especially in patients where cognitive dysfunction occurs, which is a known limitation of existing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor therapies like Sertraline.

ART12.11 is Artelo’s wholly owned, proprietary cocrystal composition of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetramethylpyrazine (TMP).

Prior preclinical research studies in animals with ART12.11 demonstrated greater behavioral and pharmacokinetic results compared to Cannabidiol or Epidiolex.

Artelo CEO Gregory D Gorgas said that although strong antidepressant effects were noted with ART12.11 in prior studies, the company is “especially encouraged” by these new comparative findings.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Artelo, however, fell from ‘extremely bullish’ to ‘bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours while message volume remained at ‘extremely high’ levels.

ARTL stock is up by about 148% this year and by about 99% over the past 12 months.

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