MELBOURNE, Australia, September 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —
EMA401 Shown to Improve Nerve and Neurovascular Function
Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, an Australian pain drug development
company, today announces the presentation of new data from a study
of EMA401 in a model of diabetic neuropathy. EMA401 is an
angiotensin II type 2 (AT2) receptor antagonist currently in
clinical development for a number of neuropathic pain
indications.
The new data were presented at the 21st annual meeting of the
Diabetic Neuropathy Study Group of the European Association for the
Study of Diabetes, NEURODIAB, on the 11th September by Professors
Norman Cameron and Mary Cotter of the University of Aberdeen.
Diabetic neuropathy is a side effect of diabetes that is
characterized by the peripheral nerves not functioning properly.
Patients present with symptoms that include pain but can also
include sensory loss and reduced reflex. Diminished nerve
conduction velocities resulting from damage to the peripheral
nervous system have also been linked to other serious side effects
of diabetes such as ulcers of the feet and legs which can
ultimately lead to amputation.
In the new study, initiated by Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, EMA401
was shown to correct motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity
(NCV) in an established animal model of diabetes. EMA401 also
reduced pain and heat sensitivity and corrected sciatic nerve
nutritive blood flow. EMA401 was effective at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day
and no CNS side effects were observed, consistent with earlier
studies at this and higher doses.
Spinifex Pharmaceuticals CEO Tom McCarthy said: “The discovery
that AT2 receptor antagonists offer an innovative approach to the
treatment of neuropathic and inflammatory pain was originally made
by Professor Maree Smith at The University of Queensland and we
have good earlier data on the impact of EMA401 on neuropathic pain
in pre-clinical models. This new study we initiat
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