Wednesday February 21, 10:27 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: MetaPhore Pharmaceuticals
MetaPhore Pharmaceuticals Announces Patent on
Pain Alleviation
Enzyme Mimetic Drugs in Development Offer New Approach To Acute and Chronic Pain
ST. LOUIS, Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- MetaPhore Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical research and development company,
announced today that the U.S. Patent Office has issued a patent on the use of its new class of superoxide dismutase (SOD)
enzyme mimetic drugs for the alleviation of acute and chronic pain, a growing health problem that affects up to a third of all
Americans.
U.S. Patent 6,180,620 granted in the name of MetaPhore's Vice President and Director of Pharmacology, Daniela Salvemini,
was assigned to G.D. Searle (now part of Pharmacia Corp.). MetaPhore has been granted exclusive rights to this patent.
Dr. Salvemini points out that ``There is a tremendous need for new, non-opiate drugs for pain management, for millions of
patients whose pain is unresponsive to current treatments or who suffer from the known side effects of current pain
medications.''
MetaPhore has been investigating potential new treatments for managing acute and chronic pain using its metal-based
compounds that mimic the free radical fighting action of the natural SOD enzyme. The exact mechanism(s) by which these
compounds produce their analgesic effects is being studied under a grant that was given to the company by the National
Institutes of Health.
The company already holds rights to a number of patents on the compounds themselves. However, this patent expands this
protection to include exclusive uses for such compounds.
``Acquiring the exclusive rights on pain alleviation for this class of compounds is an important step in building our patent
portfolio,'' said Denis Forster, MetaPhore's Chief Operating Officer.
Background
Production of superoxide, a free radical, results from cellular oxidative metabolism. When the body produces too much
superoxide, various biomolecules, cell structures and even genes are damaged. Free radical damage has been linked with a
wide range of diseases and conditions, including autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders, multiple types of cancer,
complications of diabetes mellitus, strokes, reperfusion injury, as well as pain and inflammation.
One of the body's primary defense mechanisms against free radical damage typically regulates normal levels of superoxide. That
defense, the SOD family of enzymes, removes superoxide by converting it into hydrogen peroxide and oxygen. In doing so, it
also reduces production of related damaging free radicals, such as peroxynitrite.
MetaPhore is developing a proprietary family of drugs that mimic the catalytic activity of SOD, and which may address the
diseases and conditions resulting from excessive superoxide production. In preclinical models, the lead candidate from this
family has suggested the potential to combat such diseases and conditions more effectively and with fewer side effects than
existing treatments.
``SOD mimetics have major medical potential, based on the growing body of anti-oxidant and disease research. For more than
twenty years, we have understood the free radical fighting power of the body's natural SOD enzymes, but until recently, we
have been unable to reproduce that beneficial effect in a stable and selective drug form,'' said Dennis Riley, MetaPhore's Senior
Vice President of Research & Development.
Unlike naturally derived SOD enzyme, MetaPhore's SOD enzyme mimetic is well suited for use as a drug because it has a
much lower molecular weight, is more stable and does not appear to elicit an immune response in the body.
Animal studies over the last few years have confirmed the disease fighting potential of MetaPhore's SOD mimetics. The
October 1999 issue of Science published research documenting that MetaPhore's SOD mimetic substantially reduced tissue
damage due to inflammation and reperfusion -- the latter involving the return of blood flow to an organ following removal of
blockade, such as after a heart attack.
MetaPhore expects to move drug candidates into clinical trials in 2001, including one in cancer as well the one in acute and
chronic pain.
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are ``forward looking'' statements as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The actual results may differ from those projected in the forward looking statement
due to risks and uncertainties that exist in the company's operations, development efforts and business environment.
Contact: Punnie Donohue of Kupper Parker Communications for MetaPhore Pharmaceuticals, 314-290-2014, or e-mail,
pdonohue@kupperparker.com.
SOURCE: MetaPhore Pharmaceuticals |
