Will Therapeutics, a Canada-based early-stage biotechnology company developing novel small-molecule medicines for psychiatric and compulsive disorders, announced on Tuesday that its collaborative research project with the Douglas Hospital Research Centre has received support from the Government of Québec, granted through CQDM, a non-profit biopharmaceutical research consortium.

Led by Will Therapeutics' co-founder and McGill University professor Dr. Salah El Mestikawy, the CAD3.5m project is focused on the development of innovative, brain-penetrant small molecules for the potential treatment of anorexia nervosa and other compulsive disorders.

Will Therapeutics says that it is pursuing a new approach grounded in the biology of compulsive behaviour: targeting the neural circuitry and neurochemical dysfunction that drive self-destructive patterns of habit and compulsion. The company's first program focuses on anorexia nervosa, with the potential to extend its approach across a broader family of compulsive disorders.