NEW YORK, July 31, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cortice Biosciences, a company pioneering the development of oncologic and neurologic therapies for unmet medical needs, announced today that it has acquired exclusive commercial rights to a portfolio of small molecule drug candidates for the treatment of diseases associated with cognitive impairment.
The lead drug candidate in this portfolio, CRT 001 (xamoterol fumarate), is a selective partial agonist of the beta-1 adrenergic receptor (B1-ADR), a key modulator of learning and memory formation in the brain and a novel therapeutic target for treatment of diseases associated with cognitive impairment. In preclinical studies, direct stimulation of B1-ADR by CRT 001 was shown to improve cognitive behaviors in animal models of Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome. These effects correlated with activation of a critical molecular signaling pathway in the brain and up-regulation of target genes known to be involved in long-term memory formation (1, 2, 3). Moreover, the prior clinical development history of the drug, including results supporting the safety and tolerability of CRT 001, has been described in over 70 studies that enrolled over 3,500 human volunteers.
Cortice intends to evaluate CRT 001 in clinical trials for treatment of one or more diseases associated with cognitive impairment, which include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Down syndrome and related neurological orphan indications. Cortice expects to provide further plan updates once guidance and feedback is received from regulatory authorities. In addition, the company intends to fund continuing preclinical work on other B1-ADR modulators as drug candidates for future clinical development.
"Recent discoveries have identified adrenergic signaling pathways as a target for treatment of diseases associated with impaired learning and memory formation," said George Farmer, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Cortice. "Hence, pharmacologic activation of B1-ADR may have utility in these treatment settings where significant medical needs exist." Dr. Farmer added, "The previous clinical experience with CRT 001 may expedite development in these indications and may enable detection of potential signals of activity under an accelerated timeframe."
The related intellectual property, which Cortice in-licensed from Stanford University, is based on discoveries made in the laboratory of Dr. Mehrdad Shamloo. This portfolio covers methods for stimulating B1-ADR with CRT 001 as treatment of cognitive impairment as well as composition and methods of use of novel B1-ADR modulators.
About Cortice Biosciences
Cortice Biosciences is a clinical-stage drug development company pioneering novel therapies for the treatment of oncologic and neurologic disease indications with urgent unmet medical need. More information can be found at www.corticebiosciences.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
This media release may contain forward-looking statements about Cortice Biosciences, which can be identified by the use of terminology such as "will," "would," "should," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "may," "estimates," "predicts," "projects," or similar expressions intended to identify such statements. These statements reflect the current views of Cortice with respect to future events, are based on assumptions, and subject to risks and uncertainties.
Sources:
1. Faizi et al., Neurobiology Discovery (2011)
2. Coutellier et al., Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology (2014)
3. Murchison et al., Cell (2004)
Cortice Biosciences, Inc. 646-747-9090
