CORX. i still like it.
Cortex Receives Broad Patent Claims for Drugs to ImproveMemory and Cognition
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CORX) has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for additional claims that cover the use of AMPA receptor modulating compounds, regardless of structure, to improve memory and cognition. The new patent covers Cortex's compounds -- as well as those made by others -- for treating memory and cognition.
"As a result of our pioneering work," stated Vincent F. Simmon, Ph.D., President and CEO of Cortex, "there are several companies in the United States and abroad that are now attempting to develop compounds that are similar to Cortex's Ampakines(R) for treating Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and other diseases and disorders that affect memory and cognition."
"The effect of this patent, along with our previously issued broad patent for schizophrenia, will be to allow Cortex to exclude others from marketing competitive drugs in the United States that are based on this technology," noted Dr. Simmon. Cortex's AMPA modulating compounds, named Ampakines, are currently in Phase I/IIa trials in patients with Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.
"The original patent application that now includes these claims dates back to 1992," said Dr. Simmon. "The Notice of Allowance for this patent gives recognition to the pioneering work of Gary S. Lynch, Ph.D. and Gary A. Rogers, Ph.D. who developed the first useful Ampakines beginning in 1991."
At that time, Dr. Lynch, Professor of Psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine postulated that amplifying nerve cell communication could be done safely and would improve memory. Dr. Rogers, then an Associate Research Chemist, University of California, Santa Barbara, provided the synthetic chemistry expertise to synthesize new chemicals that could be taken as pills, would cross readily from the blood into the brain, and would amplify normal nerve cell communication. Dr. Rogers is now Vice President, Discovery Research at Cortex.
Published studies demonstrate that Ampakines can cause a statistically significant increase in the memory of elderly animals and humans. Preliminary results from an ongoing study in patients with schizophrenia also suggest that Ampakines can improve memory and cognition.
Cortex, located in Irvine, California, is a neuroscience company focused on novel drug therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The Company is pioneering a class of proprietary pharmaceuticals called Ampakines, which act to increase the strength of signals at connections between brain cells. Aberrant neural connections or loss of these connections is believed to be responsible for the memory difficulties associated with Alzheimer's disease and to contribute to the memory and cognitive dysfunction seen in schizophrenia.
Health industry estimates indicate that more than four million Americans are victims of Alzheimer's disease, with that number expected to double over the next 20 years as the U.S. population ages. Individuals with schizophrenia represent approximately 1% of the population. At any given time, it is estimated that schizophrenic inpatients in the US account for 25% of all hospital bed utilization and represent in excess of $10 billion in direct costs.
Note -- 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 may be unable to secure additional capital needed to continue its operations; that the Company may be unable to arrive at corporate partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies on acceptable terms and therefore be required to independently fund clinical development of Ampakines through the sale of additional equity securities or otherwise; 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; and that clinical studies may at any point be suspended or take substantially longer than anticipated to complete. As discussed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, the Company's proposed products would require additional research, lengthy and costly clinical testing and regulatory approval. The Ampakines are investigational drugs and have not yet been shown to have efficacy in the treatment of any disease.
Background
Recent studies have shown that between the ages of 25 and 55, individuals lose approximately 25% of the connections between nerve cells. This loss of synapses, most commonly exhibited as a reduction in the ability to recall recent events, affects many systems including memory, libido, senses such as hearing and taste, and mood. In Alzheimer's disease, this decay process is greatly accelerated.
The vast majority of the connections (synapses) in the brain use glutamate as the chemical messenger between nerve cells, and the loss of the glutamate connections has been directly linked to loss of memory and cognitive function. Reduced activity of these connections is associated with a number of neurological diseases including schizophrenia and may also have a role in depression.
Scientists from Cortex and the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have invented a revolutionary new family of drugs called Ampakines(R) that enhance or amplify glutamate communications in the brain. Ampakines amplify the effect of glutamate on a particular subset of receptors called AMPA receptors. Published studies demonstrate that Ampakines can dramatically enhance memory in elderly animals and humans. Cortex pioneered the technology of amplifying glutamate based nerve communication and for a number of years had the field to itself. This provided the window for obtaining a strong patent portfolio, as evidenced by its patent on using AMPA modulation to treat schizophrenia and the current notice of allowance covering the use of AMPA modulation to improve memory and cognition.
Cortex's Ampakine family of compounds, numbering approximately 300 to date, target nerve cell connections that exist only in the brain. Unlike many other central nervous system drugs, they do not have any significant effects outside of the brain. In clinical trials in healthy volunteers and in patients with schizophrenia, CX516, the initial Ampakine being tested, appears to increase memory and cognition. The potential uses for the Ampakines, based on the results of clinical studies as well as studies in animals, include schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, depression, sexual dysfunction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a number of other neurological diseases and disorders that are age-related.
SOURCE Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CO: Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
ST: California
IN: MTC HEA
SU:
12/03/98 08:40 EST prnewswire.com |
