01/28 15:33 Selectus seeks to patent Viagra companion drug
WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., Jan 28 (Reuters) - Selectus
Pharmaceuticals said Thursday it had filed a U.S. patent application
covering the use of esprolol plus Viagra to allow persons with heart
disease to use the popular Pfizer <PFE.N> anti-impotence drug.
Privately held Selectus, a development-stage company started in early
1997, said esprolol is a potent, fast-acting beta-blocker that lessens
heart rates and blood pressure during physical exertion.
To date a number of deaths have been reported allegedly in connection
with the use of the anti-impotence drug. Cardiac implications were
indicated in some of the deaths, though the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration has said there is no proof that Viagra itself caused the
deaths. Esprolol is currently undergoing Phase II clinical trials, Selectus
said, and the drug was well-tolerated in Phase I trials.
The company is looking for a corporate partner to take over the Phase III
and IV clinical work and the marketing of esprolol. In addition to use in
conjunction with Viagra, the drug could halt angina, panic attacks, the
cardiovascular affects of acute anxiety, and migraine headaches, it
said.
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