Adial Pharmaceuticals Commends Congress on Introduction of Bipartisan Legislation Expanding Access to Emerging AUD Therapies for Veterans

GLEN ALLEN, Va., March 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adial Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADIL) (“Adial” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of treatments for addiction and related disorders, today commended members of the U.S. Congress for introducing H.R. 7091, the Expanding Veterans’ Access to Emerging Treatments Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at expanding research and development of emerging therapies for conditions affecting U.S. veterans, specifically including Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD).

Alcohol Use Disorder remains a significant issue within the veteran population, with nearly 40% of veterans experiencing AUD at some point in their lives. Despite the prevalence and impact of the condition, existing Food & Drug Administration-approved treatment options are abstinence based, limiting therapeutic approaches for many patients.

H.R. 7091 specifically includes AUD among the conditions eligible for expanded research and development efforts. The legislation supports investigational pharmaceutical therapies that meet the U.S. Government’s updated definition of recovery, which includes non-abstinence based treatment options. This definition reflects evolving federal policy recognizing harm reduction and reductions in heavy drinking as meaningful clinical outcomes.

Adial’s lead investigational product candidate, AD04, is being developed as a genetically targeted therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder. AD04 follows a non-abstinence based treatment approach and aligns with FDA supported endpoints focused on harm reduction and reduction in heavy drinking days, consistent with direction provided by Congress in the federal Appropriations package.

“We applaud members of Congress for introducing this important bipartisan legislation and for specifically recognizing AUD as a critical issue affecting our nation’s veterans,” said Cary Claiborne, Chief Executive Officer of Adial Pharmaceuticals. “By expanding support for emerging therapies that align with the government’s updated definition of recovery, including non-abstinence treatment options, this bill represents meaningful progress for veterans in need of additional treatment options.”

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and reflects bipartisan recognition of the need to advance innovative approaches for Substance Use Disorders (SUD), including Alcohol Use Disorder, which is often underemphasized within broader SUD policy initiatives.

Adial believes that H.R. 7091 reinforces federal support for harm reduction based treatment paradigms and may help advance development efforts for emerging investigational therapies such as AD04.

About Adial Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Adial Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of treatments for addictions and related disorders. The Company’s lead investigational new drug product, AD04, is a genetically targeted, serotonin-3 receptor antagonist, therapeutic agent for the treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in heavy drinking patients. Adial is currently planning to conduct a new Phase 3 clinical trial program for the treatment of AUD in subjects with certain target genotypes identified using the Company’s proprietary diagnostic genetic test. ONWARD showed promising results in reducing drinking in heavy drinking patients, with no overt safety or tolerability concerns. AD04 is also believed to have the potential to treat other addictive disorders such as Opioid Use Disorder, gambling, and obesity. Additional information is available at www.adial.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. Such statements are based upon various facts and derived utilizing numerous important assumptions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “projects,” “estimates,” “plans” and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would,” “may” and “could” are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the foregoing. The forward-looking statements include statements regarding expanding research and development of emerging therapies for conditions affecting U.S. veterans, specifically including AUD, developing AD04 as a genetically targeted therapy for AUD, H.R. 7091 reinforcing federal support for harm reduction based treatment paradigms and helping advance development efforts for emerging investigational therapies such as AD04 and the potential of AD04 to treat other addictive disorders such as Opioid Use Disorder, gambling, and obesity. Any forward-looking statements included herein reflect our current views, and they involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, among others, our ability to pursue our regulatory strategy, our ability to advance ongoing partnering discussions, including our ability to finalize and enter into a definitive agreement regarding the planned partnership with Molteni, our ability to obtain regulatory approvals for commercialization of product candidates or to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements, our ability to develop strategic partnership opportunities and maintain collaborations, our ability to obtain or maintain the capital or grants necessary to fund our research and development activities, our ability to complete clinical trials on time and achieve desired results and benefits as expected, regulatory limitations relating to our ability to promote or commercialize our product candidates for specific indications, acceptance of our product candidates in the marketplace and the successful development, marketing or sale of our products, our ability to maintain our license agreements, the continued maintenance and growth of our patent estate and our ability to retain our key employees or maintain our Nasdaq listing as well as the Parties’ ability to enter into a definitive agreement. These risks should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read together with the other cautionary statement included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was initially made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, unless required by law.

Contact:
Crescendo Communications, LLC
David Waldman / Alexandra Schilt
Tel: 212-671-1020
Email: adil@crescendo-ir.com