CMO to manufacture Gaia BioPharma's GAI-122 Mitochondria-targeted neuroprotective agent

AlphaRx Inc. (OTCBB: ALRX) announced today that its licensee, Gaia BioPharma Limited, has signed an agreement with a contract manufacturing organization (CMO), to manufacture GAI-122 for use in the planned Phase I and II clinical trials of that product candidate. GAI-122 is being developed as I.V. administered formulation of an intracellular neuroprotectant that employs AlphaRx's proprietary nano-emulsion formulation technology. More specifically, GAI-122 is being developed for the amelioration of stroke-induced injury and disability in China and as a preventive therapy for postoperative delirium in the U.S.A.

"We are very pleased with the progress of the GAI-122 development program; it is on track to enter human trials in 2010," said Michael Lee, President and CEO of AlphaRx. "The NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) has recently initiated clinical trials using the oral form of GAI-122, for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. It further validated our clinical development strategy for GAI-122 as a neuroprotectant."