VistaGen Therapeutics Announces Positive AV-101 Preclinical Data Suggesting Potential for Parkinson's Disease.BURLINGAME, Calif. -- VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs for treating neurological disorders This is a list of major and frequently observed neurological disorders (e.g. Alzheimer's disease), symptoms (e.g.back pain), signs (e.g. aphasia) and syndromes (e.g. Aicardi syndrome). and diabetes, announced today positive preclinical data supporting expanded applications of AV-101, the Company's first in-class prodrug prodrug /pro·drug/ (-drug) a compound that, on administration, must undergo chemical conversion by metabolic processes before becoming an active pharmacological agent; a precursor of a drug. that regulates critical NMDA receptors NMDA receptor n. A brain receptor activated by the amino acid glutamate, which when excessively stimulated may cause cognitive defects in Alzheimer's disease. in the brain. The studies, which were performed in collaboration with Dr. Sophie Erhardt, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, suggest that VistaGen's AV-101 may have therapeutic potential for treating the symptoms of Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. and schizophrenia. "These studies suggest that AV-101 can both stimulate the firing of dopaminergic neurons, the neurons Neurons Nerve cells in the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord that connect the nervous system and the muscles. Mentioned in: Speech Disorders that die in Parkinson's disease, and 'reveal' or activate dopaminergic neurons. We have not seen this type of dual activity in any other drug," said Dr. Erhardt. "In addition, there is increasing evidence that an imbalance in the levels of kynurenic acid kynurenic acid /kyn·uren·ic ac·id/ (kin?u-ren´ik) a bicyclic aromatic compound formed from kynurenine in a pathway of tryptophan catabolism and excreted in the urine in several disorders of tryptophan catabolism. , a natural neuromodulator in the brain, is associated with schizophrenia. AV-101, as a prodrug analogue of kynurenic acid, has allowed us to identify one of the brain pathways most likely disturbed in schizophrenia," Dr. Erhardt continued. "These striking results are very encouraging and now offer the possibility of additional therapeutic applications, such as Parkinson's, for AV-101. If these results are repeated when we study the specific region of the brain that is damaged in Parkinson's disease, we can then expand our AV-101 IND application to the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. to cover additional indications," said H. Ralph Snodgrass, Ph.D., VistaGen's President and Chief Executive Officer. It is estimated that close to 4 million people worldwide suffer from Parkinson's disease with an estimated $2 billion spent on drug therapy annually, with the market growing at about 2% per year worldwide. About VistaGen Therapeutics VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the use of embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo known as a blastocyst. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4-5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50-150 cells. ES cells are pluripotent. ("ES Cell") as proprietary and patented biological systems for drug discovery and development. VistaGen's core technology is an ES Cell-based R&D platform that could lead to discovery and development of breakthrough drug therapies for a wide variety of diseases, including cardiovascular, diabetes and multiple neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease. VistaGen's new ES Cell-based biological assays and screening systems help discover, validate, and prioritize novel drug targets, as well as identify the biological function and potential therapeutic utility of new drug candidates with greater flexibility, speed and efficiency compared to traditional techniques currently used in the pharmaceutical industry. |
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