A medical research company in County Kerry has stared clinical trials of a new drug to find a treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave.

One medical research company from Kerry, Kingdom Therapeutics, hopes to find a treatment for those with ASD.

The company has started clinical trials of a new drug which could be transformative for those with ASD.

However, getting from trials to pharmacy shelves is a complicated and often very expensive process.

On Breakfast Business, Kingdom Therapeutics founder and chief executive Professor Liz Shanahan said the problems with autism can sometimes be more profound than people think.

“Autism is a development disorder but it is not one disorder,” she said.

“So there are lots of different types of autism - it's increasing exponentially.

“In Ireland, you've got everybody from our own Adam Harris (the Tánaiste’s brother), who is somebody who had a lot of support when he was a child - he's an incredible individual now supporting other people with autism through to people who will never lead independent lives.

“[Some people with ASD] can't speak, they have very little cognitive function and very little ability to lead an independent life.”

Sunflower lanyard - a symbol of awareness and support for people with autism and hidden disabilities. Image: Alamy

Prof Shanahan said the company believes there might be a link between the gut and the brain in terms of severe ASD.

“What we did at the very beginning with our research is we had a look at these children and there was something that we saw in them that we felt was quite significant,” she said.

“A lot of children, particularly those with what we call profound autism, which is the more severe form, have really horrible gut problems.

“When you look at that cohort, what you see in them is actually they have leaky guts - their guts are a lot more leaky than other children's guts might be.”

"Dealing with developing brains"

Prof Shanahan said their theory is that with those children with those leaky guts, some metabolites leak from their guts.

“You see a lot of inflammation in their stomach, you see a lot of inflammation in their brain,” she said.

“So our whole strategy has been - if there's something we can do about that gut leakiness that might improve the guts and then also improve the brain function.

“Because we're dealing with developing brains, we're hoping that there's something we can do there with their development.”

Parents of autistic children protest outside the Dáil about a lack of school places. Image: Eabha Casey/Newstalk

The drug being created features cannabinoids - but the company is committed to thoroughly examining their efficacy.

“The Governments around Europe, a couple of years ago, got very excited about cannabinoids and changed some forms of legislation,” Prof Shanahan said.

“But if I'm honest, we as scientists and medics were really concerned about that because, you know, people are going to be taking something where there is some thinking that there's clinical efficacy.

“[Cannabinoids] are effective, but there's no proper, robust data and the safety of things needs to be validated.

“We need to be sure, particularly if we're going to give it to children, that it's something we know is safe and is going to do the right thing for them, rather than the wrong thing.”

"Which ones are effective"

Prof Shanahan said the company are not using “just pure plant”.

“We've taken components of the plant and we've done some pre-clinical research, which is research before you go into humans, to really evaluate which ones are effective,” she said.

“These are obviously animal models - we need to go into humans next.

“But you know, when we did that, what we saw is a big improvement in the particular version that we are developing of that gut leakiness, a reduction in the inflammation in the stomach and an improvement in behaviour.

“So we think we have something that now is ready to go into patients.”

The next stage is trialling on a small group of children.

Listen back here:

Word autism written with colorful kids magnetic letters. Image: Alamy