NeuroSearch says that its Phase III drug for Huntington disease, Huntexil, not only has symptomatic effects but also slows the underlying disease progression depending on the patients’ disease genotype. This analysis comes after the firm reported in February that the treatment significantly improved patients’ motor function.

NeuroSearch has filed a patent application covering the ability of Huntexil to slow down the progression of disease in symptomatic patients as well as prevent the occurrence of symptoms in premanifest subjects. The patent application also covers certain compounds in NeuroSearch’s pipeline of dopaminergic stabilizers.

The MermaiHD study was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled Phase III trial conducted at 32 clinical centers across Europe to examine the effects of Huntexil on a number of Huntington disease parameters. Data from the placebo-treated patient group confirmed a strong correlation between the length of the Huntington disease gene and the rate of symptom progression.

The more CAG repeats there are in the gene, the faster is the progression of clinical symptoms. In the Huntexil-treated patients the CAG-dependent rate of progression of motor symptoms as observed in the placebo group was not apparent. The company thus suggests that the drug has the ability to potentially modify the underlying disease progression.

Results reported on February 3 showed that Huntexil met its primary endpoint, improving motor function as well as voluntary and involuntary motor symptoms. At the time the company said that it would initiate discussions with the EMEA and FDA.

NeuroSearch is also evaluating Huntexil in a second randomized and placebo-controlled trial, the HART study, being conducted in the U.S. and Canada in approximately 220 patients with Huntington disease. Patient recruitment in the HART study is still ongoing, and study results are expected in the second half of 2010.

Source: GEN News

Popularity: 1% [?]

Eli Lilly agreed to form a three-year partnership with NeuroSearch to research and develop compounds which are based on a set number of ion channel targets and used to treat central nervous system disorders, NeuroSearch reported on Tuesday. Under the terms of the agreement, which could be worth up to $350 million for NeuroSearch, Eli Lilly will have the option to licence the rights to compounds covered by the alliance.

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Eli Lilly will make upfront payments to NeuroSearch totalling $13 million, and will invest $17 million in the company, buying the equivalent of a 3.3-percent stake. NeuroSearch will also be eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $320 million, plus royalties on worldwide sales, for each successfully commercialised product.

Source: FirstWord

Popularity: 2% [?]

AstraZeneca said today that it’s partnering with the Mayo Clinic and Virginia Tech to work on an experimental class of antidepressants known as triple reuptake inhibitors, or TRIs.

The drugs target three brain chemicals believed to be involved in depression — serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. Existing drugs target just serotonin, or serotonin and norepinephrine.

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The project announced today has yet to test a TRI in people. That puts AstraZeneca a bit behind some other drug makers. In 2007, Danish firm NeuroSearch said it was carrying out a phase-2 study on a TRI with GlaxoSmithKline. Bristol-Myers Squibb has worked with Albany Molecular Research Inc. on similar drugs, and Dov Pharmaceutical said last year it was starting a phase-2 study on a TRI.

By adding dopamine to the mix, drug makers hope to crack certain types of depression that typically don’t respond to drug treatment, including melancholic depression, Christer Köhler, vice president of global discovery research at AstraZeneca, told the Health Blog.

“We know that dopamine is involved and plays an important role in motivation and reward,” he said. “There is a whole spectrum of how you segment various depressed states. More atypical depressions could respond well [to TRIs], because the belief is that dopamine could be more involved” in these depressions, he said.

Still, it’s way too early to get too excited about these drugs. Lots of drugs seem promising in early development, only to wash out for unpredictable reasons in late stage testing.

The partners did not disclose financial terms of the deal. In a statement, AstraZeneca said it is licensing a portfolio of preclinical drugs from the institutions, and establishing a research collaboration with them to look for other compounds.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Popularity: 5% [?]