Ono licenses CeNeS' early-stage sedative

Cambridge, UK-based CeNeS Pharmaceuticals says that Japan's Ono Pharmaceuticals has licensed exclusive domestic rights to develop and commercialize CNS-7056, CeNeS' investigational general anesthetic and short-acting sedative. Under the terms of the deal, Ono will make upfront and milestone payments based on development stage as well as royalties on sales of CNS-7056. Further financial details were not disclosed.

The agent is a new short-acting general anesthetic and sedative that acts on GABA-A receptors. Preclinical studies demonstrate that, after intravenous administration, the compound rapidly induces deep sedation which is maintained during continuous administration. Importantly, the sedative effects rapidly disappear after cessation of administration. The rapid loss of sedative is due to its degradation by esterase enzymes that are widely-distributed in the body, the UK firm stated, which suggests that it can be clinically developed as a sedative for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia and as a sedative for mechanical ventilation in intensive care.

CeNeS plans to start a Phase I study of the drug in the USA in the first half of 2008 and Ono to do likewise in Japan as early as the second half of 2008.