[ ADLR/various ]
Wednesday December 12, 6:12 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Adolor Corporation
Adolor Receives Three SBIR Awards from the National Institutes of Health
- Grants will Fund Research for Novel Pain Products -
EXTON, Pa., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Adolor Corporation (Nasdaq: ADLR - news) announced today that it has recently been awarded three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the National Institutes of Health to fund research into novel compounds for pain relief.
``These projects represent truly cutting-edge research in the development of products for the relief of moderate to severe pain,'' commented John J. Farrar, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Adolor Corporation. ``The selection by the NIH of these three projects is a testament to Adolor's sophisticated understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying pain, and our determination to translate this expertise into novel analgesics.''
The SBIR Phase II award, entitled ``Novel Antagonists of the ORL-1 Receptor,'' will support research to develop novel small molecule antagonists of the ORL-1 receptor and determine their therapeutic utility in the treatment of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Compounds that demonstrate specific interactions with the ORL-1 receptor have the potential to treat chronic pain without the side effects observed in patients treated with traditional opioid narcotics. In addition, these compounds may prove useful in the clinical management of various forms of neuropathic pain, for which there is currently no widely effective therapy to meet this significant unmet medical need. The award will result in payments to the company of approximately $1.3 million over a two-year period.
In addition, Adolor was awarded an SBIR Phase I award for $113,000 entitled ``Discovery of Kappa Opioid Analgesics Using Chimeric Receptors.'' This grant will support research focusing on the use of an artificial protein designed to identify small molecule drug candidates that activate kappa opioid receptors in the same manner as a naturally occurring protein in the human brain. Interaction of such small molecules with kappa opioid receptors in the brain has the potential to yield a new class of potent pain relievers that circumvent central nervous system side effects, which previously prevented the development of centrally acting kappa agonists.
Finally, Adolor Corporation was awarded an SBIR Phase I award for $157,110 entitled ``Development of Novel Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists as Analgesics,'' which will fund research focusing on the discovery and development of novel small molecule activators of cannabinoid receptors expressed on peripheral nerves. Recent studies have shown that molecules that activate these receptors may be useful in treating visceral and inflammatory pain without the abuse potential associated with the use of marijuana.
Any compounds that may be developed out of these projects will join Adolor's pipeline of therapeutics that target peripheral opioid receptors, providing potent analgesia without the central nervous system side effects associated with traditional narcotics. Adolor has demonstrated the potential of this approach in an early Phase 2 study of ADL 10-0101 in chronic pancreatitis pain, which is considered to be an example of severe visceral pain.
About Adolor Corporation
Adolor Corporation discovers, develops and plans to commercialize proprietary pharmaceutical products for the treatment of pain and to mitigate the side effects that are caused by current pain treatments. Adolor has a portfolio of product candidates in development in Phase 1 to Phase 3 clinical trials. These product candidates include our peripheral opioid analgesics and alvimopan, which is intended to reduce the most prevalent and severe side effects of current opioid narcotics, such as nausea and vomiting, as well as treat the symptoms of opioid-induced bowel dysfunction, such as constipation and post operative ileus. Adolor's product candidates target peripheral opioid receptors and are not expected to exhibit the dose-limiting side effects of existing opioid narcotics.
Certain statements made in this press release related to Adolor products, as well as any therapeutic applications and outcomes, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements are the risk that the clinical trials for Adolor's product candidates may not be successful, Adolor may not obtain necessary regulatory approvals for its product candidates and the risks and other factors detailed, from time to time, in Adolor's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Adolor's Registration Statement on Form S-l and Report on Form 10-K.
This press release is available on the website adolor.com.
SOURCE: Adolor Corporation |
