Impede™ Technology

We are engaged in laboratory testing of a pseudoephedrine HCl product candidate utilizing our novel Impede™ Technology. Impede™ Technology is primarily intended to inhibit the conversion of pseudoephedrine HCl into methamphetamine, an illicit and frequently abused drug.

Most pseudoephedrine containing products are classified by the FDA for sale Over-The-Counter (without a doctor’s prescription) and most product formulations do not require the approval of a New Drug Application by the FDA to initiate commercial distribution and marketing. In 2006, regulations relating to over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine HCl products were amended with the enactment of the federal Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act (CMEA).  The CMEA was enacted in response to an alarming increase in and widespread converison of pseudoephedrine containing products into methamphetamine.  Among other things, the CMEA requires retail stores to maintain their inventory of pseudoephedrine containing products in a secured location and restricts the amount of pseduephedrine products a store can sell to an individual customer.  Implementation of the CMEA initially reduced the number of illegal methamphetamine laboratories as, the most commonly used process for converison of pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine requires substantial quantities of pseudoephedrine.  However, a newer, more efficient process for converting pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine requires less pseudoephedrine.  Possibly as a result of the more efficient process, the DEA reported a 15% increase in clandestine methamphetamine laboratory seizures in 2008.  Impede™ Technology is designed to deter a wide range of processes of methamphetamine production including both the older and newer processes.