Incara changes its name to Aeolus

Aeolus Pharmaceuticals has said that its recently-announced name changefrom Incara Pharmaceuticals became effective July 16. As a result, Aeolus' stock trading symbol has changed from ICRA to AOLS. The common stock will continue to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board. In June, the company announced a one-for-10 reverse stock split, the record date for which was the close of business on July 15. The company's common stock begins trading on a split-adjusted basis as of today, which is the effective date for the reverse split.

Aeolus is developing a new class of small-molecule catalytic antioxidants that destroy oxygen-derived free radicals, believed to be an important contributor to the pathogenesis of many diseases. The firm's catalytic antioxidants have been shown to reduce damage to tissue in animal studies of amyotropic lateral sclerosis, stroke, cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Aeolus has filed an Investigational New Drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration for its lead clinical compound, AEOL 10150. The initial Phase I clinical trial will be for the possible treatment of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease).