Abiogen Pharma's New Anti-Anxiety Drug Starts a Clinical Phase II in Generalized Anxiety Disorders in Vienna.

PISA, Italy -- Abiogen Pharma today announced the start of a Phase II clinical trial in Vienna (Austria) in patients affected by GAD with ABIO 08/01, a new anti-anxiety drug.

ABIO 08/01 is the first in a new class of non-addictive drugs, different from anxiolytic sedatives, and is being developed to treat clinical anxiety states such as panic disorder or GAD.

The pharmacological efficacy of ABIO 08-01 was studied in several animal models of anxiety and showed that the molecule was active after a single oral administration.

Abiogen Pharma performed two previous clinical phase I studies in the University of Vienna (Austria), where ABIO 08-01 showed a good profile of safety and tolerability.

Moreover, the data dealing with EEG/ERP mapping provide evidence about peculiar CNS effects of ABIO 08/01. Comparisons of imaging with previous data arisen from studies conducted at the same investigational Centre, present a pharmacological profile of ABIO 08/01 which seems to be extremely innovative.

Anxiety is one of the most commonly observed group of CNS disorders. This includes phobias, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorders and other syndromes and shows a co-morbidity with other psychiatric or medical conditions, which complicates their course and severity. Symptoms of anxiety can significantly impair functionality and quality of life for millions of these individuals. Generalized anxiety disorder which affects an estimated five percent of people, provokes a direct annual healthcare costs equal to approximately $1.5 billion in Europe.

Abiogen Pharma is a private Italian Pharmaceutical Company, born in Pisa in 1997, involved in R&D, Manufacturing and Marketing. Abiogen owns a prestigious R&D Pipeline and showed along the years significant skills in innovative compound development, also broadening out to the biotechnological field.