Neurex Halts Trial Of SNX-111 In Stroke

Neurex and co-development partner Warner-Lambert have stopped enrollingpatients into their Phase I/II trial of SNX-111, a drug designed to limit neuronal death after stroke and severe head trauma.

SNX-111 is a conotoxin derived from a venomous aquatic snail (Conus magus). The drug, which specifically blocks neuronal calcium channels, is also in Phase III trials for the treatment of severe intractable pain, and the company has stressed that these studies are not affected by the cessation of the ischemic brain injury study.

Details about what went wrong in the 70-patient study are not yet available, although Neurex has implied that the risk/benefit ratio for SNX-111 was not what had been expected prior to starting the study. In January, Neurex and W-L had said they were hoping to start pivotal trials in this indication in the latter half of 1997, but now say they will not enroll any more patients until an analysis is complete.