RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. Establishes ResolutionRx Ltd in Australia to Develop Its Pharmaceutical Cannabinoid Platform
Glen Rock, N.J., January 12, 2023 /Globe Newswire - RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTC Markets: RSPI) (“RespireRx” or the “Company”), a leader in the discovery and development of innovative and revolutionary treatments to combat diseases caused by disruption of neuronal signaling, is pleased to announce that, on January 11, 2023, it established ResolutionRx Ltd (“ResolutionRx”), a new, currently wholly-owned, unlisted public company in Australia, as the first in a series of steps that include, but are not limited to financings, research and clinical development, manufacturing, regulatory and compliance, all for the purpose of developing compounds that target the body’s endocannabinoid system, and in particular, the re-purposing of dronabinol, an endocannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptor agonist, for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (“OSA”). The Company will contribute certain dronabinol assets and certain liabilities to ResolutionRx.
One of the main purposes for the creation of ResolutionRx was to allow it to participate in the Australian research and development tax credit which in the case of ResolutionRx, is a refund of 43.5% of qualified research and development expenditures as reported on ResolutionRx’s Australian tax return. ResolutionRx is in late stage discussions with an Australia based fund to establish a finance facility secured by the tax credits in order to finance a substantial percentage of the credit associated with the qualified expenditiures over the course of the research and development timeline in advance of the final receipt of the tax credit funds. In addition, ResolutionRx is in late stage negotiations for an equity or equity-linked financing of up to 25% of the research and development budget to be used exclusively to support the research and development budget. Inherent in this financing is a commitment to list ResolutionRx on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). ResolutionRx’s intent is to list on the ASX and one or more public exchanges outside of Australia, including the United States.
As the Company has previously announced, in support of ResolutionRx, we have entered into a letter of intent and is preparing a final, definitive agreement with an Australian headquartered, bespoke specialty contract research organization (“CRO”) exclusively focused on cannabinoid and psychedelic clinical research. This CRO is expected to provide full service CRO services, including regulatory, compliance and manufacturing services, either directly or through sub-contractors, in addition to conducting human pharmacokinetic and pivotal efficacy and safety studies of dronabinol. It is anticipated that RespireRx will use, at least initially, its management personnel to provide management, operational and oversight services to ResolutionRx.
According to Jeff Margolis, Chief Financial officer of RespireRx and a Director of ResolutionRx, “We believe that creating ResolutionRx has made it possible to access finance channels separate from and possibly in addition to those of the Company, in order to unlock the unrealized asset values of our pharmaceutical cannabinoid program. We also believe that this will enable us to accelerate the development of dronabinol for OSA with cost effective access to capital while accessing certain financial incentives available in Australia.”
Arnold Lippa, Executive Chairman, Interim CEO and Interim President and Chief Scientific Officer of RespireRx and a Director of ResolutionRx, “I look forward to building this new company and working with our new Australian colleagues. I hope that this approach might interest other small biotech companies to seek novel approaches for overcoming some of the limitations experienced in the United States financial markets.”
About RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc.
RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a leader in the discovery and development of medicines for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders, with a focus on treatments that address conditions affecting millions of people, but for which there are few or poor treatment options, including obstructive sleep apnea (“OSA”), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”), epilepsy, pain, recovery from spinal cord injury (“SCI”), and certain neurological orphan diseases . RespireRx is developing a pipeline of new and re-purposed drug products based on our broad patent portfolios for two drug platforms: (i) pharmaceutical cannabinoids, which include dronabinol, a synthetic form of ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (“?9-THC”) that acts upon the nervous system’s endogenous cannabinoid receptors and (ii) neuromodulators, which include AMPAkines and GABAkines, proprietary chemical entities that positively modulate (positive allosteric modulators or “PAMs”) AMPA-type glutamate receptors and GABAA receptors, respectively.
The Company holds exclusive licenses and owns patents and patent applications or rights thereto for certain families of chemical compounds that claim the chemical structures and their uses in the treatment of a variety of disorders, as well as claims for novel uses of known drugs.
ResolutionRx: Pharmaceutical Cannabinoids.
Dronabinol. RespireRx’s ResolutionRx subsidiary is developing dronabinol, ?-9-THC, a synthetic version of the naturally occurring substance in the cannabis plant, for the treatment of OSA, a serious respiratory disorder that impacts an estimated 29.4 million people in the United States according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (“AASM”), published in August 2016. OSA has been linked to increased risk for hypertension, heart failure, depression, and diabetes, and has an annual economic cost in the United States of $162 billion according to the AASM. There are no approved drug treatments for OSA.
Two Phase 2 clinical trials have been completed demonstrating the ability of dronabinol to significantly reduce the symptoms of OSA and, subject to raising sufficient financing (of which no assurance can be provided) ResolutionRx believes that it will be able to commence a pharmacokinetic study, which it intends to conduct in Australia for a recently discovered formulation followed by a Phase 3 international clinical study for the treatment of OSA with the new formulation. Some or all of the human clinical studies are pending the the outcome of an intended meeting with the US FDA. Because dronabinol is already FDA approved for the treatment of AIDS related anorexia and chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, the Company further believes that its re-purposing strategy would only require approval by the FDA of a 505(b)(2) new drug application (“NDA”), an efficient regulatory pathway that allows the use of publicly available data.
EndeavourRx: Neuromodulators
GABAkines. Under a License Agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation, Inc. (“UWMRF”) and on behalf of its EndeavourRx business unit, RespireRx has licensed rights to certain selectively acting GABAkines because of their ability to selectively amplify inhibitory neurotransmission at a highly specific, subset of GABAA receptors, thus producing a unique efficacy profile with reduced side effects. Preclinical studies have documented their efficacy in a broad array of animal models of interrelated neurological and psychiatric disorders including epilepsy, pain, anxiety, and depression in the absence of or with greatly reduced propensity to produce sedation, motor-impairment, tolerance, dependence and abuse. The Company currently is focusing on developing KRM-II-81 for the treatment of epilepsy and pain.
KRM-II-81 has displayed a high degree of anti-convulsant activity in a broad range of preclinical studies, including in treatment resistant and pharmaco-resistant models. Not only was KRM-II-81 highly effective in these models, but pharmaco-resistance or tolerance did not develop to its anti-convulsant properties. These latter results are particularly important because pharmaco-resistance occurs when medications that once controlled seizures lose efficacy as a result of chronic use and it is a principal reason some epileptic patients require brain surgery to control their seizures. In support of its potential clinical efficacy, translational studies have demonstrated the ability of KRM-II-81 to dramatically reduce epileptiform electrical activity when administered in situ to brain slices excised from treatment resistant epileptic patients undergoing surgery.
In addition, KRM-II-81 has displayed a high degree of analgesic activity in a broad range of preclinical studies. In intact animal models of pain, the analgesic efficacy of KRM-II-81 was comparable to or greater than commonly used analgesics. At the same time, KRM-II-81 did not display side effects such as sedation and motor impairment, but even more importantly, it did not produce tolerance, dependence, respiratory depression or behavioral changes indicative of abuse liability, which are produced by opioid narcotics and are at the heart of the opioid epidemic.
AMPAkines. Through an extensive translational research effort from the cellular level through Phase 2 clinical trials, the Company has developed a family of novel, low impact AMPAkines, including CX717, CX1739 and CX1942 that may have clinical application in the treatment of CNS-driven neurobehavioral and cognitive disorders, spinal cord injury, neurological diseases, and certain orphan indications. Our lead clinical compounds, CX717 and CX1739, have successfully completed multiple Phase 1 safety trials. Both compounds have also completed Phase 2 proof of concept trials demonstrating target engagement, by antagonizing the ability of opioids to induce respiratory depression.
AMPAkines have demonstrated positive activity in animal models of ADHD, results that have been extended translationally into statistically significant improvement of symptoms observed in a Phase 2 human clinical trial of CX717 in adult patients with ADHD. Statistically significant therapeutic effects were observed within one week. We believe AMPAkines may represent a novel, non-stimulant treatment for ADHD with a more rapid onset of action than alternative non stimulants, such as Straterra® (atomoxetine), and without the drawbacks of amphetamine-type stimulants.
In a series of important studies funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and published in a number of peer reviewed articles, Dr. David Fuller (University of Florida), a long-time RespireRx collaborator, has demonstrated the ability of CX1739 and CX717, the Company’s lead AMPAkines, to improve motor nerve activity and muscle function in animal models of spinal cord injury (SCI).
Additional information about RespireRx and the matters discussed herein can be obtained on the Company’s web-site at www.RespireRx.com or in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
Company Contact:
Jeff Margolis
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary
Telephone: 917-834-7206
Email: jmargolis@respirerx.com
RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc.
126 Valley Road, Suite C
Glen Rock, NJ 07452
www.respirerx.com
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