Treating Chronic Pain, Migraine & Muscle Spasticity Through Inhibition Of Neurotransmitter Glutamate

Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics
Also Included In: Headache / Migraine;  Neurology / Neuroscience;  Conferences
Article Date: 23 Jun 2008 - 0:00 PDT


A Webinar hosted by TorreyPines Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: TPTX) at 11 a.m. EDT on June 25 will bring together industry experts to discuss the opportunity of treating chronic pain, migraine and muscle spasticity through the inhibition of the neurotransmitter glutamate.

The company's President and Chief Executive Officer, Neil Kurtz, M.D., will moderate a discussion following brief presentations by:

• Tony Yaksh, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chairman for Research, Department of Anesthesiology, and Professor of Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego
  
  Dr. Yaksh will present information about glutamate receptors in the central nervous system as a target for chronic pain therapy. The focus of his research is the physiology and pharmacology of pain processing. A member of numerous professional societies, Dr. Yaksh has been a consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. He has received many awards, including the FWL Kerr Award from the American Pain Society and the American Society of Anesthesiology Award for Excellence in Research.
  
  
• Jerome Goldstein, M.D., Director of the San Francisco Headache Clinic and a board-certified neurologist who focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure of headache
  
  Dr. Goldstein will present information about glutamate receptors in the brain as a target for acute and prophylactic migraine therapy. He is a member of the American Headache Society, The International Headache Society and The National Headache Foundation. Dr. Goldstein is a Board Certified Neurologist, a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, and has special qualification for the treatment of headache from the National Headache Foundation. He has received many industry awards, published articles in industry journals and served on advisory boards related to the development of a wide range of headache therapies.
  
  
• Alan J. Tuchman, M.D., Clinical Professor of Neurology and Pharmacology at New York Medical College, Principal of a neuroscience-focused consulting firm and a board-certified neurologist
  
  Dr. Tuchman will present information about glutamate receptors in the spinal cord as a target for muscle spasticity. He has served as Vice Chairman of the Department of Neurology at New York Medical College as well as Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs, which involved the development and management of clinical care and medical education policy for 29 affiliated hospitals. In addition, he was President of the Epilepsy Society of Southern New York. Dr. Tuchman is a frequent speaker about neuroscience topics at academic meetings.

"There's a growing body of scientific and clinical evidence that supports the further development of drugs that block the glutamate cascade," said Dr. Kurtz. "As the American Headache Society prepares to kick off its 50th Annual Scientific Meeting, we want to provide patients as well as the medical community with industry experts' perspectives as to what is clearly a promising approach for the treatment of migraine and other conditions."

TorreyPines Therapeutics' lead compound, tezampanel is the first AMPA/kainate-type glutamate receptor antagonist to be studied in clinical trials for chronic pain. Glutamate receptors mediate the functioning of glutamate, an important excitatory neurotransmitter. While normal glutamate production is essential, excess glutamate production, either through injury or disease, can have a range of pathological effects. By acting at both the AMPA and kainate receptor site to competitively block the binding of glutamate, tezampanel and its oral prodrug, NGX426, have the potential to treat a number of diseases and disorders. These include migraine and other forms of chronic pain such as neuropathic pain as well as muscle spasticity and rigidity secondary to spinal cord trauma, stroke and multiple sclerosis.

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Webinar Information

Participants can access the Webinar by clicking on the link located on the home page of TorreyPines Therapeutics' Web site at http://www.torreypinestherapeutics.com/. A replay of the Webinar will be available on TorreyPines Therapeutics' Web site until July 25.

About TorreyPines Therapeutics

TorreyPines Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company committed to providing patients with better alternatives to existing therapies through the research, development and commercialization of small molecule compounds. The company's goal is to develop versatile product candidates, each capable of treating a number of acute and chronic diseases and disorders such as migraine, chronic pain, muscle spasticity and rigidity, xerostomia and cognitive disorders. The company is currently developing four product candidates: two ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonists and two muscarinic receptor agonists. Further information is available at http://www.torreypinestherapeutics.com/.

This press release contains forward-looking statements or predictions. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the potential for tezampanel and NGX426 as treatments for migraine and other forms of chronic pain such as neuropathic pain as well as muscle spasticity and rigidity secondary to spinal cord trauma, stroke and multiple sclerosis. Such statements are subject to numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause TorreyPines' actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including whether any preclinical studies or clinical trials conducted in the future, will prove successful, and if successful, whether the results can be replicated. These and other risks which may cause results to differ are described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of TorreyPines' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and TorreyPines other SEC reports. The forward-looking statements are based on current information that is likely to change and speak only as of the date hereof.

Source: Wendy Lau
Russo Partners, LLC

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