Memory Pharma achieves milestone

New Jersey, USA-based Memory Pharmaceuticals says it had earned a milestone payment of $960,000 from the Stanley Medical Research Institute related to the ongoing Phase IIa trial of MEM 1003 in patients with acute mania in bipolar disorder. This first milestone under the agreement was triggered by a set of criteria, pre-defined by SMRI, regarding progress of the trial. Under the terms of the deal, Memory could receive a total of $3.2 million from SMRI to fund this research.

The multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study is evaluating the safety and efficacy of MEM 1003 for the treatment of acute mania in bipolar disorder. Subjects are being randomized to receive MEM 1003 or placebo for a 21-day treatment period, which will be followed by an optional open-label four-week treatment period. Subjects in the MEM 1003 group are receiving 60mg of MEM 1003 twice a day, with up to two dose escalations, from 60mg to 120mg twice a day on the second day of treatment and from 120 to 180 mg twice a day on the third day of treatment. The primary outcome measure of the trial is the change in the Young Mania Rating Scale at 21 days.