Some news from today on CORX:
CORTEX ANNOUNCES ISSUANCE OF TWO AMPAKINE(R) PATENTS
IRVINE, Calif., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq: CORX) announced today the issuance of two U.S. Patents
covering AMPAKINEs(R), a new pharmaceutical class. "The issuance of
these two patents adds to our proprietary position of important
chemical structures that can be used to enhance nerve cell
communication in the brain," stated Vincent F. Simmon, Ph.D., President
and Chief Executive Officer of Cortex. "One of the patents covers
AMPALEX(R) (CX516), which is currently in clinical trials for treatment
of Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. In addition to three issued
AMPAKINE patents, Cortex has received Notices of Allowance on four
other patent applications that relate to novel AMPAKINE structures and
their uses."
U.S. Patent No. 5,736,543 is entitled "Benzoxazines for Enhancing
Synaptic Response" and covers an invention by Gary Rogers, Ph.D., Vice
President, Pharmaceutical Research at Cortex and Gary Lynch, Ph.D.,
Professor of Psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine.
The second patent, U.S. No. 5,747,492, is entitled "Heteroatom
Substituted Benzoyl Derivatives that Enhance Synaptic Responses
Mediated by AMPA Receptors" and was invented by Drs. Lynch and Rogers.
Cortex holds exclusive rights to both of these patents.
Nerve cells communicate with each other by releasing messenger
molecules called neurotransmitters. The most widely utilized
neurotransmitter in the brain is glutamate. AMPAKINEs work by
increasing the effect of glutamate on one of its important receptors,
the AMPA neuroreceptor.
"Drs. Lynch and Rogers invented the concept that increasing the effect
of glutamate with a pharmaceutical compound could have beneficial
effects, including improved memory. Over the past few years, Cortex
and others have published numerous scientific papers demonstrating that
AMPAKINEs can increase performance on memory tests in humans and
animals. These memory enhancing effects can be measured within minutes
of administration," said Dr. Simmon.
In two recent publications in the Journal of Neuroscience, Cortex
scientists and their collaborators -- Robert E. Hampson, Ph.D. and Sam
A. Deadwyler, Ph.D. at Wake Forest University School of Medicine --
demonstrated in animal studies that the AMPAKINE effect on memory is
sustained for at least one week after the last administration of drug.
Clinical Trials Underway
The AMPAKINEs were designed to be taken orally and to rapidly pass
the blood brain barrier. AMPALEX is the first AMPAKINE to be
administered to humans and is currently the subject of three Phase
I/IIa clinical trials. One of the trials involves patients with
Alzheimer's disease. This trial is being conducted at the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD by Thomas N. Chase, M.D.,
Chief of the Experimental Therapeutics Branch at the National Institute
of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
AMPALEX is also being tested in patients with schizophrenia. One study
is being conducted by Donald Goff, M.D., Director of the Psychotic
Disorders Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The
other clinical trial is being conducted under the direction of Daniel
Weinberger, M.D., Chief of the Clinical Brain Disorders Branch at the
NIH National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda.
"Schizophrenia is an obvious potential indication for this type of
therapy," explained Simmon. "Researchers have known for several years
that mental processes involved in memory and cognition are disturbed in
patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, brain imaging studies in
patients with schizophrenia have demonstrated lower than normal nerve
cell activity in the areas of the brain where AMPAKINEs have been
demonstrated to exert their effect of increasing nerve cell
communication."
Cortex, located in Irvine, California, is a neuroscience company
focused on novel drug therapies for neurological and psychiatric
disorders.
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning
the Company's research and development activities and business
development plans. Actual results may differ materially, depending on a
number of risk factors, including the risks 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; that competitors may challenge or
design around the Company's patents or develop competing technologies;
that clinical studies may be suspended or take substantially longer
than anticipated to complete and that the Company may be unable to
arrive at corporate partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies
on acceptable terms and therefore be required to continue to fund
clinical development of AMPAKINEs through the sale of additional equity
securities or otherwise. As discussed in the Company's Securities and
Exchange Commission filings, the Company's proposed products will
require additional research, lengthy and costly clinical testing and
regulatory approval. CX516 is an investigational drug and has not yet
been shown to have efficacy in the treatment of any disease.
More information at www.cortexpharm.com
SOURCE Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
-0- 05/05/98 /CONTACT: Vincent F. Simmon,
Ph.D., President and CEO of Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 714-727-3157;
investor relations: Bruce Russell of Russell Communications Group,
310-216-1414; media contact: Peter Steinerman of Steinerman Biomedical
Communications, Inc., 516-374-3031/
/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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