Positive results from ReceptoPharm's pain study

Nutra Pharma, a US biotechnology firm that is developing drugs for HIV and multiple sclerosis, says that its drug development holding, ReceptoPharm, has successfully completed a study of RPI-78, the latter's lead drug candidate being studied for the treatment of pain.

The continuing pain studies, being conducted in collaboration with Soochow University, recently found that RPI-78 was successful in controlling pain with a long duration of effect. A previous study, entitled A long-form a-neurotoxin from cobra venom produces potent opioid-independent analgesia, was published in the April 2006 issue of Acta Pharmacologica Sinica and explored the pain relieving effects of cobratoxin on laboratory mice. The latest data demonstrated that RPI-78 was as effective as morphine at blocking pain signals in the part of the brain that signals the presence of pain. It was also confirmed that the drug did not use an opioid mechanism. Moreover, the duration of RPI-78's effect was superior to that of morphine.

"Given the positive results of our study, we plan to continue our efforts to develop RPI-78 as an analgesic," explained Paul Reid, chief executive of ReceptoPharm. "We believe that the data from this study and from previous studies may be sufficient to commence a Phase I clinical study in subjects with severe pain," he added.