Officials of Denmark-based NeuroSearch A/S said pharmaceuticalcompanies started inquiring about their new anti-Parkinson's diseasecompound after animal studies showed it could reverse the disorder'ssymptoms without causing a major side effect brought on by currenttreatments.

Jorgen Buus Lassen, president and CEO of NeuroSearch, toldBioWorld Today the drug developed by his Copenhagen-basedcompany may represent the first new treatment for Parkinson's in 20years.

Following recently completed Phase I studies in the U.K. showingthat NeuroSearch's compound, NS 2214, was safe, Bristol-MyersSquibb, of New York, Wednesday agreed to pay as much as $29million to develop and market the drug. The funding includes an up-front fee and milestone payments. NeuroSearch also will receiveroyalties.

Parkinson's disease is caused by a progressive degeneration ofneurons that secrete the neurotransmitter, dopamine, in areas of thebrain controlling body movement. The disorder usually occurs late inlife and is characterized by loss of voluntary movement, shaking andmuscle weakness.

Lassen said standard therapies involve replacing dopamine orboosting production of the neurotransmitter. Among the problemswith those treatments, he added, are that they eventually becomeineffective and cause dyskinesia, a serious side effect which alsoimpairs voluntary body movements.

Lassen said NeuroSearch's compound is a dopamine re-uptakeinhibitor, which enhances the effectiveness of a patient's naturallyoccurring dopamine. Normally, after the neurotransmitter delivers itsmessage to nerve cells, the dopamine is recycled.

"If you block the [neuronal] uptake of the substance, you have moredopamine," Lassen told BioWorld Today. "We enhance the naturalrelease of dopamine."

The animal studies, Lassen said, showed NS 2214 could reverseParkinson's symptoms without producing the side effect ofdyskinesia.

With Phase I safety studies of NS 2214 complete, Bristol-Myers willtake over clinical development of the drug. The agreement gives thepharmaceutical firm rights to market the compound worldwide exceptin parts of Europe and Japan.

Bristol-Myers is expected to launch Phase II trials of NS 2214 inEurope during the first quarter of this year. n

-- Charles Craig

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