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02-27-2007, 07:09 AM
Avigen, Inc. (Nasdaq:AVGN), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for the treatment of neurological conditions, announced today that the Cambridge University Press journal Neuron Glia Biology has published online the first article of its special issue about pain, featuring the use of Avigen's product, AV411 (ibudilast), a potential first-in-class oral treatment for the management of chronic neuropathic pain. AV411 is in early phase II clinical development in patients with neuropathic pain.
Avigen scientists, led by Kirk Johnson, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development, set out to find potential therapeutic candidates to address the unmet medical need of controlling chronic pain. AV411 was identified based on its glial-attenuating activity and prior human experience in Japan. The pharmacology research article by lead author Annemarie Ledeboer, Ph.D., in collaboration with researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, reports that, through its glial cell regulation, AV411 can treat painful neuropathies in animals. Brain and spinal cord glia such as astrocytes and microglia normally respond to neuronal injury to aid repair of nerve damage. However, sometimes the glia in the spinal cord become altered and can aggravate neurons and contribute to the pain. The Avigen researchers showed that AV411 prevents, or attenuates, the hyperactivation of glia, thus relieving painful sensation. Such research may also explain why neuron-targeted drugs provide only partial relief.
MORE IN LINK:
http://www.medadnews.com/News/Index.cfm?articleid=418251
Avigen scientists, led by Kirk Johnson, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development, set out to find potential therapeutic candidates to address the unmet medical need of controlling chronic pain. AV411 was identified based on its glial-attenuating activity and prior human experience in Japan. The pharmacology research article by lead author Annemarie Ledeboer, Ph.D., in collaboration with researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, reports that, through its glial cell regulation, AV411 can treat painful neuropathies in animals. Brain and spinal cord glia such as astrocytes and microglia normally respond to neuronal injury to aid repair of nerve damage. However, sometimes the glia in the spinal cord become altered and can aggravate neurons and contribute to the pain. The Avigen researchers showed that AV411 prevents, or attenuates, the hyperactivation of glia, thus relieving painful sensation. Such research may also explain why neuron-targeted drugs provide only partial relief.
MORE IN LINK:
http://www.medadnews.com/News/Index.cfm?articleid=418251