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Microcap & Penny Stocks : NEOTHERAPEUTICS (NEOT) (NEOTW) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LadyNada who wrote (703)	9/15/1999 8:52:00 AM
From: LadyNada	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 705

NEOT news under PFE ticker last nite Alzheimer's therapy builds brain cells Reuters Story - September 14, 1999 18:55 By Deena Beasley LOS ANGELES, Sept 14 (Reuters) - A remedy for memory loss may soon be found at your neighborhood pharmacy if experimental drugs that improve nerve connections and promote the growth of new nerve cells prove successful, scientists said on Tuesday. Next-generation treatments for Alzheimer's Disease aim to enhance memory by inducing production of natural protein molecules that regulate the growth and survival of nerve cells, or neurons, according to a company making one of the new drugs. The same method could potentially treat spinal cord injuries, stroke and other neurological disorders, said NeoTherapeutics, an Irvine, Calif.-based biopharmaceutical company. The company plans to soon launch a major U.S. clinical study of its experimental drug, Neotrofin, which could emerge as a breakthrough technology in the treatment of Alzheimer's. "We got lucky and our lead drug (neotrofin) does improve memory in a unique way," Alvin Glasky, chief executive officer of NeoTherapeutics, said in an interview. Alzheimer's is a progressive, degenerative brain disease that causes people to forget recent events or familiar tasks. As it advances, it causes confusion, personality and behavioral changes, loss of language and impaired judgment. It affects up to 4 million people in the United States alone, including former President Ronald Reagan. "If we can slow the progression of the disease by five years, after a single generation you've cut the incidence by 50 percent," Glasky said. Throughout the 1990s, NeoTherapeutics developed synthetic compounds that are small enough to pass through blood-brain barriers so they can deliver their therapeutic effects to the central nervous system. "We suspect that in many disorders the function of molecules being transmitted between cells goes wrong," said Dr. Olivier Civelli, an expert in functional genomics at the University of California, Irvine. NeoTherapeutics said it will soon announce a research agreement with Civelli, whose work focuses on identifying receptors that play a role in brain function along with the molecules which bind to them. Glasky explained that other Alzheimer's drugs, such as Novartis AG's Exelon and Aricept, which is distributed by Pfizer Inc. , work by inhibiting an enzyme that breaks down a neurotransmitter associated with cognitive functions such as memory, learning and judgment. Aricept is the only Alzheimer's drug on the U.S. market and Exelon is expected to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year. But, since Alzheimer's causes brain cells to degenerate, "how good is a neurotransmitter for a dead cell?" Glasky pointed out. Neotrofin, when given to animals, has turned on the production of factors that cause brain cells to multiply, according to NeoTherapeutics. In a human trials of Neotrofin, Alzheimer's patients saw improvement of memory retention in 28 days with no adverse side effects, the company said. Patients using Exelon or Aricept for six months showed a 1-2 point improvement (on a scale of 0-70, zero being normal memory), while patients receiving Neotrofin for four weeks have shown an average 3.5-point improvement, according to NeoTherapeutics. "Some patients show an improvement of as much as 10-12 points. And four weeks later the improvement is still there," Glasky said. "This is highly suggestive of nerve cell growth." Glasky noted that the drug, if eventually approved by regulators, may have a market beyond Alzheimer's patients. "Lots of people think they have memory problems," Glasky said. "Pfizer revolutionized the drug industry. They proved with Viagra that people will pay for a drug that improves lifestyle." Results of an international Phase II clinical trial of Neotrofin are expected to be released early next year. Glasky said the upcoming 90-day U.S. trial is being done to the standards of a 'pivotal' study, in hopes that the FDA will be so bowled over by the results that it will waive requirements for further clinical tests before accepting a marketing application for Neotrofin. If the trial is successful, Neotrofin could be on the market in two to three years, the company estimated.