Aires licenses NO prodrug from US NIH

US drug developer Aires Pharmaceuticals has signed an exclusive license agreement with the US National Institutes of Health for the patented use of a nitric oxide prodrug to treat cardiopulmonary conditions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The technology, identified at the NIH's National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, shows that nitrite, which is converted by the body into nitric oxide, can be delivered as an effective treatment for pulmonary hypertension, myocardial infarction, transplantation and cerebral vasospasm. Aires is developing Aironite, a proprietary, inhalable formulation of nitrite, to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.

The agent, which was awarded Orphan Drug status by the US Food and Drug Administration, has completed its first Phase I trial for this indication.