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| Cortex to Receive Additional Claims for AMPAKINES; Allowed Claims Include Enhancement of Neurotrophic Factor Expression |
IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(OTC Bulletin Board: CORX) announced today that it has received a notice from
the United States Patent and Trademark Office that two additional patents will
be allowed covering neurotrophic factor expression enhancement by, and novel
structures of, AMPA-receptor modulating compounds.
The patent applications are entitled "Positive AMPA Receptor Modulation to
Enhance Brain Neurotrophic Factor Expression," invented by Drs. C. Gall, G.
Lynch, J. Lauterborn and P. Vanderklish, and "Benzoxazine Compounds for
Enhancing Synaptic Response," invented by Drs. G. Rogers and C. Marrs.
"The neurotrophic patent application is part of the technology we
previously licensed from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and the
new chemical structures were developed within Cortex," stated Vincent F.
Simmon, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer. "The claims for
enhancing neurotrophic factors complement our existing broad patents for using
AMPA receptor modulation to improve cognition and memory and to treat
schizophrenia. These broad 'use' claims cover chemical structures invented by
Cortex or anyone else and form a very valuable cornerstone for our technology.
The use claims are supplemented by claims for specific chemical structures
that we have developed to improve synaptic response."
A number of neurodegenerative pathologies, including Parkinson's disease,
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, stroke, trauma, Huntington's disease,
hypoglycemia and hypoxia are specifically covered by the claims. The
neurotrophic factors that are covered include brain derived neurotrophic
factor, neurotrophin 3, nerve growth factor, neurotrophin 4/5, glial cell
derived neurotrophic factor, ciliary neurotrophic factor, leukemia inhibitory
factor, transforming growth factors and platelet-derived neurotrophic factor.
In November 1998, scientists from UCI and Cortex presented data at the
Society for Neuroscience in Los Angeles regarding the enhancement of
neurotrophic factor expression by AMPAKINES(R).
Cortex, located in Irvine, California, is a neuroscience company focused
on novel drug therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The
Company is pioneering a class of proprietary pharmaceuticals called AMPAKINES,
which act to increase the strength of signals at connections between brain
cells. The weakening or loss of these connections is thought to be
responsible for memory difficulties from Alzheimer's disease and to contribute
to cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. In early 1999, Cortex and NV
Organon entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement for Organon to
develop and commercialize Cortex's proprietary Ampakine technology for the
treatment of schizophrenia and explore it in the area of depression. Organon,
based in Oss, The Netherlands, a pharmaceutical business unit of Akzo Nobel,
employs 10,000 persons world-wide, over 1,500 of whom are involved in R & D.
Its pharmaceutical products are sold in more than 100 countries.
Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning
the Company's research and development activities and development plans.
Actual results may differ materially, depending on a number of risk factors,
including the risks that current or future patent applications will not result
in patents being issued; that competitors may challenge or design around the
Company's patents or develop competing technologies; that the Company's
proposed products may at any time be found to be toxic or ineffective for any
or all of their proposed indications; that clinical studies may be suspended
or take substantially longer than anticipated to complete and that the Company
may be unable to arrive at corporate partnerships with larger pharmaceutical
companies on acceptable terms and therefore be required to continue to fund
clinical development of AMPAKINES through the sale of additional equity
securities or otherwise. As discussed in the Company's Securities and
Exchange Commission filings, the Company's proposed products will require
additional research, lengthy and costly clinical testing and regulatory
approval. CX516 is an investigational drug and has not yet been shown to have
efficacy in the treatment of any disease.
More information at http://www.cortexpharm.com
Background of AMPAKINES
The vast majority of the connections (synapses) in the brain use glutamate
as the chemical messenger between nerve cells, and the loss of the glutamate
connections has been directly linked to loss of memory and cognitive function.
Reduced activity of these connections is associated with a number of
neurological diseases including schizophrenia and may also have a role in
depression.
Scientists from Cortex and the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have
invented a revolutionary new family of drugs called AMPAKINES(R) that enhance
or amplify glutamate communications in the brain. AMPAKINES amplify the
effect of glutamate on a particular subset of receptors called AMPA receptors.
Published studies demonstrate that AMPAKINES can dramatically enhance memory
in elderly animals and humans. Cortex pioneered the technology of amplifying
glutamate based nerve communication and for a number of years had the field to
itself. This provided the window for obtaining a strong patent portfolio, as
evidenced by its patents on the use of AMPA modulation to treat schizophrenia,
to improve memory and cognitive function and to enhance neurotrophic factor
expression.
Cortex's Ampakine family of compounds, numbering approximately 300 to
date, target nerve cell connections that exist only in the brain. Unlike many
other central nervous system drugs, they do not have any significant effects
outside of the brain. In clinical trials in healthy volunteers and in
patients with schizophrenia, CX516, the initial Ampakine being tested, appears
to increase memory cognition and clinical symptoms.
SOURCE Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
back to topRelated links:
Company News On-Call:
800-758-5804, ext. 208450
CONTACT:
Vincent F. Simmon, Ph.D., President and CEO
of Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 949-727-3157, ext. 101; or Bruce
Russell, Investor Relations of Russell Communications Group,
310-216-1414, for Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
