Mithridion, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing drugs for serious Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders, announced today progress with its pipeline of potential oral small-molecule drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia. New product options have been developed for MCD-386, a clinical-stage drug candidate with "first-in-class" potential for improving memory and cognition in AD, improving cognition in schizophrenia, and for disease-modifying effects (or stopping disease progression) in AD. The new product options, all in preclinical research, include MCD-386 Forte (a high dose version), MCD-386 Transderm (potentially deliverable via a skin patch), and MCD-396 Forte/Transderm, combining the benefits of both technologies.
Mithridion also announced progress in laboratory studies demonstrating the potential disease-modifying activity of its drug leads, or their ability to stop or slow down the disease processes in AD. No currently available drug treats the underlying causes of AD, and this is a major unmet clinical need.
Trevor M Twose, CEO, will present these results in a corporate overview on Thursday November 12, 2009, at 12:05 p.m. at the 7th Annual MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum taking place on November 11-12, 2009, at the Monona Terrace conference center in Madison, WI. Mithridion is seeking major pharmaceutical company partners to develop its expanded product options. Dr. Twose will be available for one-on-one meetings.
Mithridion is currently developing a controlled release formulation of MCD-386 (MCD-386CR) for Alzheimer's disease. The first part of Phase I clinical trials was completed in late 2008, as previously announced. The company plans to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of MCD-386CR in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, ascending multiple-dose Phase Ib study to commence in the fourth quarter of 2009.
MCD-386 Forte is a new high-dose product option, designed to maximize the disease-modifying potential of MCD-386.
The Transderm technology is designed to deliver MCD-386 or MCD-386 Forte via a skin patch, offering convenience to patients and caregivers, as well as further performance benefits.
Mithridion has proven the feasibility of these new product options in preclinical testing in laboratory models, not only for MCD-386, but also for one of the company's new drug leads described below.