ROCKVILLE, Md., June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Neuralstem, Inc.
(NYSE Amex:
CUR) announced that it has been approved to dose the final
cohort in the ongoing Phase Ia trial to test the safety of NSI-189
for the treatment of major depression. Phase Ia is testing the drug
in healthy volunteers for safety and tolerability. NSI-189 is a
proprietary new chemical entity discovered by Neuralstem that
stimulates new neuron growth in the hippocampus, an area of the
brain that is believed to be involved in depression and other
diseases and conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease and
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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“The trial is proceeding as expected,” said Karl Johe, PhD,
Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman of Neuralstem’s Board of
Directors. “There have been no adverse events to date. We are on
schedule to complete Phase Ia in July, and with approval from the
FDA, plan to begin Phase Ib this fall.” Phase Ib will test the
safety and tolerability of NSI-189 in patients with major
depression.
About NSI-189
NSI-189 is the lead compound in Neuralstem’s neurogenerative
small molecule drug platform, which the company plans to develop
into orally administered drugs for major depression and other
psychiatric disorders.
NSI-189 stimulated neurogenesis of human hippocampus-derived
neural stem cells in-vitro. In mice, NSI-189 stimulated
neurogenesis in the hippocampus and increased its volume. In
humans, NSI-189 may reverse the human hippocampal atrophy seen in
major depression and other disorders. This program has received
significant support from both the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Institutes of Health
(NIH).
About the Trial
This Phase Ia trial tests a single dose of NSI-189 in healthy
patients. If the safety endpoints ar
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