CTIX autism compound. This is on the "back burner" while Leo forges ahead with Kevetrin and Prurisol. But, this shows you what else they have in the pipeline that adds to CTIX value. An article you may not have seen?
This is an article from The Salem News in which Cellceutix Chief Financial Officer, Leo Ehrlich was interviewed. What we like about the Cellceutix management is their attitudes. They know that they are on to something great with their research, but they still maintain a very professional and subdued level of confidence. The article by By Cate Lecuyer, staff writer for The Salem News is as follows:
BEVERLY — A cure for autism ?
Maybe eventually, according to research being conducted by Cummings Center company Cellceutix.
Chief Financial Officer Leo Ehrlich was reluctant to actually use the word “cure.” But there’s no mistaking the results of testing the compound KM-391 on rats that were injected with a serum that causes autismlike symptoms.
To simplify the study, Dr. Krishna Menon compared two groups of rats. One group was given the drug, and the other wasn’t. Over about three months, in some cases there was an 80 percent improvement among rats that took the drug.
With autism rates on the rise, the company is excited about the potential of this compound and the effects it could have on families and children.
We talked to Ehrlich about the research.
What, exactly, did your company do?
We took newborn rats and at 4 hours old injected a saline solution directly into the brain . It slows them down. This caused brain plasticity and decreased serotonin . A lot of the symptoms are common in autistic children. Then we put them on the drug, and there were significant improvements.
How is this different from other drugs that treat autism?
Right now, there are drugs that address the symptoms, like hypertension. They might give them Ritalin . We addressed the three or four causes of autism.
Is this a potential cure?
It’s not a cure. In medical research , you’re reluctant to use words like “breakthrough.” But it’s a significant development. And remember, autism is a spectrum. For some people, it could be a cure. For others, it might not be. But let’s not use that word “cure.”
What about the controversy of animal testing?
In medical research you can’t do anything without animals. Every drug you take has been tested on animals. That’s the law.
Any plans to test it on people?
Basically in pharmaceuticals if it doesn’t work on animals it won’t work on humans. If it does work on animals, it might work on humans. So this gives it a good chance that we can move forward and do tests on children. Of course we have to do toxicity tests first. In our company, we think it will be about a year. …
To be on the market, we’d be talking three to four years, if everything went smoothly.
Are there other companies doing similar research?
Very, very few. It’s an area where people don’t really know what to do.
How did you come up with this study?
Dr. Menon came across a study done by a research center using this animal model. He always had this drug from India, and always felt it might work for autism. So he put the two together. It’s one piece that’s usually missing.
