Brane begins Ph I neuropathic pain drug trial

Brane Discovery Srl, a Milan, Italy-based specialty pharmaceutical company, has initiated a Phase I trial of BND-11624, a novel pyrrolidinone derivative, as a treatment for neuropathic pain in a range of indications, including antiviral therapy and osteoarthritis. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-ascending-dose study, which began in Switzerland last month, is designed to study the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of three different doses of the drug in 24 volunteers.

Carlo Farina, the firm's chief executive, said: "this is the first of a series of candidate drugs that Brane Discovery plans to take into clinical development." He added that the aim is to make Brane a fully-fledged developer of central nervous system drugs within a few years, in a move that will include the development of agents for multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.