TORREYPINES INITIATES PHASE I ALZHEIMER'S TREATMENT TRIAL

TorreyPines Therapeutics has begun a Phase I clinical trial of NGX267 for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

In preclinical models, NGX267 has shown properties suggesting potential as a therapy for symptomatic improvement and disease modification in Alzheimer's disease.The Phase I clinical trial will be conducted at one center in Arizona and will enroll approximately 55 healthy volunteers. The single dose trial will focus on assessing tolerance, safety and pharmacokinetics of NGX267. If successful, this trial will be followed by a second Phase I trial to be conducted in an age appropriate population that more closely emulates Alzheimer's disease patients.

NGX267 is a muscarinic or M1 receptor agonist. The M1 receptor plays an important role in memory and cognitive processing. Its activation has also been linked to a decrease in A-beta42 production, a peptide that is involved in the creation of the amyloid plaques that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.