=============================================================== == == == ----------- ALS INTEREST GROUP ----------- == == ALS Digest (#54, 11 August 1993) == == == == To subscribe, to unsubscribe, to contribute notes, == == etc. to ALS Digest, please send e-mail to: == == bro@huey.met.fsu.edu (Bob Broedel) == == == == All interested people may "broadcast" messages to == == ALS Digest subscribers by sending to: == == als@huey.met.fsu.edu == == == =============================================================== (1) ===== re MNTF (motorneuron trophic factor) ========== Though I have been searching for information about MNTF for some time, here is the first and only item I have located. I would be interested in knowing if others can provide background info about MNTF. thanks, Bob Broedel =============================================================== System is now searching IMSWorld R&D Focus Drug News, copyrighted 1993 by IMSWorld Publications Ltd., London, U.K., and available through Data-Star. AN 00001780 930215. OC PARAGRAPH TX (7) TI Cambridge Neuroscience Pipeline Update. SO R&D Focus Drug News, 15 February 1993. DT 930215. LE 5,036 Characters, approximately 3 PC screens. Dr Elkan Gamzu, President and Chief Operating Officer of Cambridge NeuroScience, has provided R&D focus with an update of the company's ongoing research. Cambridge Neuroscience's lead in house product, CNS 1102 (CERESTAT) has now completed phase Ia trials being conducted in the UK. This agent is an antagonist of the NMDA ion channel and is indicated for the treatment of stroke and traumatic brain injury. The drug acts by preventing the uncontrolled influx of calcium ions into the cell following excessive glutamate release from damaged neurons. In the USA, an IND was submitted in December 1992 and has now been approved, the company noted. Phase Ib trials are scheduled to begin in 6 New England medical centers after patient enrollment, which is due to take place in February 1993. Phase Ib trials in patients with traumatic brain injury will also begin in the UK during the 1st Quarter 1993, according to the company. Cambridge NeuroScience is also conducting preclinical trials in the USA with two further compounds with potential in the treatment of stroke. CNS 5097 is a likely back-up to CNS 1102 and is also indicated for traumatic brain injury and stroke. CNS 1237 is indicated for the treatment of neurological complications of major cardiac surgery, myocardial infarct and stroke and is described as a neuronal-specific calcium channel blocker of glutamate release. Both compounds are new to R&D focus. Two agents are now being actively developed in Cambridge Neuro Science's neuroleptic program, according to the spokesperson. These drugs have potential in the treatment of schizophrenia, which affects more than 2 million people in the USA alone. CNS 1044 has finished preclinical trials and the company is now awaiting IND approval. Additional data on pharmacokinetics and metabolism have been requested by the FDA and the company is responding to these queries, the spokesperson noted. The second agent, CNS 1169, is currently undergoing preclinical evaluation as a likely back-up to CNS 1044. The company's most advanced product, pramiracetam (CNS 1879, ECTAPRAM), is now in phase II/III trials in the USA as an adjunct to electroconvulsive therapy in depressed puiKBients. This nootropic agent was originally developed by Parke Davis and tested as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Phase II trials with this agent gave disappointing results and the product was licensed out for other indications. Cambridge NeuroScience has licensed the compound for development in the USA and the Far East, and Menarini and Parke Davis hold rights to the compound in Italy. Dr Gamzu states Cambridge NeuroScience is also conducting a substantial biotechnology program in the pursuit of agents with potential in the treatment of CNS injury and neurodegenerative disorders. Five agents that have been licensed in from several research institutions are currently undergoing preclinical evaluation. Glial growth factor (GGF) was originally developed by Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (USA) and is being developed for the therapy of multiple sclerosis and neuropathies, specifically those induced by cancer chemotherapy and diabetes therapy. The company has also licensed motorneuron trophic factor (MNTF) and differentiation inducing factor (DIF) from Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research. MNTF may arrest nerve cell death and is being developed for the treatment of motor neuropathies, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). DIF is similar to members of the ciliary neurotrophic factor family and is being developed for neurodegenerative disorders associated with cholinergic dysfunction. The axonal growth factor F-spondin (floor plate factor-5, FPF-5) has been licensed from Columbia University (USA) and is undergoing preclinical evaluation as a treatment for spinal cord injury. The last biotechnology agent in active development with Cambridge Neuro Science, growth and differentiation factor-1 (GDF-1), is being developed for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders and multiple sclerosis. A number of other compounds, which have previously been mentioned in R&D focus, were not included in the R&D update. These agents, although not in active development, have not been discontinued and are considered by the company to be viable back-up compounds for its lead products, they include the potential stroke therapies CNS 1118, CNS 1531, CNS 1524 and CNS 1505, the potential antiepileptics CNS 1145, CNS 1067 and CNS 2103 and the neuroleptic CNS 1307. DE CNS 1044, N5A, Psycholeptics - Neuroleptics, Cambridge NeuroScience. CNS 1102, N7, Other CNS Drugs, Cambridge NeuroScience. CNS 1169, N5A, Psycholeptics - Neuroleptics, Cambridge NeuroScience, new-drug. CNS 1237, N7, Other CNS Drugs, Cambridge NeuroScience, new-drug. CNS 1524, N7, Other CNS Drugs, Cambridge NeuroScience, new-drug. CNS 5097, N7, Other CNS Drugs, C8, Calcium Antagonists, Cambridge NeuroScience, new-drug. == end of als 54 ==