Nova Mentis Life Science Corp. announced that it has signed a research agreement with the University of Central Florida (UCF) Research Foundation to develop a saliva serotonin assay. Dr. Kiminobu Sugaya, a Professor and Head of Neuroscience in the Burnett School of Biomedical Science at UCF, will measure serotonin levels in the saliva samples collected as part of the recently launched NOVA autism spectrum disorder (ASD) observational study.

NOVA has recently launched an IRB approved ASD observational study in North America and specimens of a patient's saliva and buccal check cells are being collected. The cheek cells, in addition to measurement of serotonin saliva levels, will allow study of the neuroinflammatory mRNA genetic profile of ASD patients. The research objective is to develop a genetic neuroinflammatory and serotonin data bank that will help establish a "Diagnostic Index" ­ an objective set of tools that helps to differentiate subtypes of ASD and the major genetic subset of ASD, fragile X syndrome (FXS), and to develop more accurate methods of diagnosis and treatment.

Collected data will be analyzed using customized machine learning algorithms and used to guide design of upcoming clinical trials that will test the efficacy of psilocybin-based therapeutics in ASD and FXS.