CORX Patent News
(PR NEWSWIRE) Cortex Receives Exclusive Patent Protection for AMPA-Recepto
Cortex Receives Exclusive Patent Protection for AMPA-Receptor Modulating Drugs
to Improve Memory and Cognition
- 'This May Well Be the Most Important Patent that Cortex Will Receive.' -
IRVINE, Calif., April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(OTC Bulletin Board: CORX) has received Patent No. 5,891,876 from the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for two claims that cover the use
of AMPA-receptor modulating compounds, regardless of structure, to improve
memory and cognition. The new patent covers Cortex's compounds, Ampakines(R)
-- as well as those made by others -- for treating memory and cognition.
"This may well be the most important patent that Cortex will receive,"
stated Vincent F. Simmon, President and CEO of Cortex. "It will allow us and
our licensees to exclude others in the United States from making and selling
AMPA-receptor modulating compounds for the treatment of memory or dementia,
including Alzheimer's disease, as well as for psychiatric conditions including
depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit disorder (ADD),
and phobic disorders."
Cortex also has received United Kingdom Patent No. 2325225, entitled
"Benzofuran Compounds which enhance AMPA receptor activity," co-invented by
Dr. Gary Rogers and Dr. Chris Marrs of Cortex. This patent has 30 claims for
AMPA-receptor modulating compounds, including a claim that covers the
structure of CX691, a more powerful formulation of the Ampakines, and related
compounds.
In addition to the United Kingdom patent, Cortex has been notified by the
USPTO that a patent will issue covering CX691 in the United States.
Additionally, Dr. Simmon reported, "Preliminary results from our clinical
trial in patients with schizophrenia suggest that Ampakines may substantially
improve both memory and cognition. This trial also provided the first
evidence that Ampakines might be useful in treating ADD."
Additional results from this trial will be presented on April 18, 1999, by
Donald Goff, M.D. at the International Society for Schizophrenia Research in
Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dr. Goff is Medical Director, Freedom Trail Clinic,
Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center, Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.
Published studies demonstrate that Ampakines can cause a statistically
significant increase in the memory of elderly animals and humans. In addition
to the trial in patients with schizophrenia, Cortex's AMPA modulating compound
CX516 is currently in a Phase I/IIa trial in patients with Alzheimer's disease
at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.
Cortex, located in Irvine, California, is a neuroscience company focused
on novel drug therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The
Company is pioneering a class of proprietary pharmaceuticals called Ampakines,
which act to increase the strength of signals at connections between brain
cells. Aberrant neural connections or loss of these connections is believed
to be responsible for the memory difficulties associated with Alzheimer's
disease and to contribute to the memory and cognitive dysfunction seen in
schizophrenia.
Health industry estimates indicate that more than four million Americans
are victims of Alzheimer's disease, with that number expected to double over
the next 20 years as the U.S. population ages. Individuals with schizophrenia
represent approximately 1% of the population. At any given time, it is
estimated that schizophrenic inpatients in the US account for 25% of all
hospital bed utilization and represent in excess of $10 billion in direct
costs.
Note -- This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning
the Company's research and development activities and business activities.
Actual results may differ materially, depending on a number of risk factors,
including the risks that competitors may challenge or design around the
Company's patents or develop competing technologies; the Company may be unable
to secure additional capital needed to continue its operations; that the
Company may be unable to arrive at corporate partnerships with larger
pharmaceutical companies on acceptable terms and therefore be required to
independently fund clinical development of Ampakines through the sale of
additional equity securities or otherwise; that the Company's proposed
products may at any time be found to be toxic or ineffective for any or all of
their proposed indications; and that clinical studies may at any point be
suspended or take substantially longer than anticipated to complete. As
discussed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, the
Company's proposed products would require additional research, lengthy and
costly clinical testing and regulatory approval. The Ampakines including CX56
are investigational drugs and have not yet been shown to have efficacy in the
treatment of any disease.
SOURCE Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
-0- 04/06/99
/CONTACT: Vincent F. Simmon, Ph.D., President and CEO of Cortex
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 949-727-3157; or Bruce Russell, Investor Relations, of
Russell Communications Group, 310-216-1414, for Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc./
/Company News On-Call: prnewswire.com or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 208450/
/Web site: cortexpharm.com
(CORX)
CO: Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
ST: California
IN: MTC
SU:
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