Cortex Pharmaceuticals (AMEX:COR) announced that new findings were reported by the University of California and the Journal of Neurosciences that reveal new information about the formation of memory in the brain and how long term potentiation (LTP) deficiencies accompany the memory loss seen during the early stages of Huntington’s disease. Drs. Lynch, Gall and their colleagues at the University of California, Irvine found that LTP structures encoding memory are defective in transgenic mouse models of Huntington’s disease. They discovered that these synaptic defects can be fully reversed through treatment with brain derived growth factor (BDNF) released at the synapses. High impact AMPAKINE® compounds increase BDNF and potentially emerge as a new treatment strategy for memory problems associated with Huntington’s disease, an incurable neurodegenerative disease.
http://today.uci.edu/news/release_detail.asp?key=1614
As announced yesterday, Cortex’s Chairman, President and CEO, Roger G. Stoll, Ph.D., will speak Monday, May 21st at the 6th Annual JMP Securities Research Conference to be held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. Dr. Stoll will briefly discuss the ability of selective high impact AMPAKINE compounds to restore deficits found in brain derived growth factors associated with Huntington’s disease, as well as other neurodegenerative diseases and orphan drug indications. Cortex’s other class of compounds within its AMPAKINE technology, called low impact compounds, such as CX717, have already demonstrated proof of principle efficacy in adult ADHD patients by increasing attention and decreasing hyperactivity in a small double –blinded randomized study last year.
About Cortex
Cortex, located in Irvine, California, is a neuroscience company focused on novel drug therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The Company is pioneering a class of proprietary pharmaceuticals called AMPAKINE® compounds, which act to increase the strength of signals at connections between brain cells. The loss of these connections is thought to be responsible for memory and behavior problems in Alzheimer’s disease. Many psychiatric diseases, including schizophrenia, occur as a result of imbalances in the brain’s neurotransmitter system. These imbalances may be improved by using the AMPAKINE technology. Cortex has alliances with N.V. Organon for the treatment of schizophrenia and depression and with Les Laboratoires Servier for the development of AMPAKINE compounds to treat the neurodegenerative effects associated with aging and disease, including Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and anxiety disorders. For additional information regarding Cortex, please visit Cortex Pharmaceuticals’ Website at www.cortexpharm.com.
Note — this press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the Company’s research and development activities. The success of such activities depends on a number of factors, including the risks that the Company’s proposed products may at any time be found to be unsafe or ineffective for any or all of their proposed indications; that competitors may challenge or design around the Company’s patents or develop competing technologies; and that preclinical or clinical studies may at any point be suspended or take substantially longer than anticipated to complete. As discussed in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, the Company’s proposed products will require additional research, lengthy and costly preclinical and clinical testing and regulatory approval. AMPAKINE compounds are investigational drugs and have not been approved for the treatment of any disease. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
