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I don't think any of this trading activity has to do with the IP. In a lightly traded penny stock, it wouldn't surprise me if there were pretty robust methods of making small gains at low risk. Basically, if you know something about automatic trading algorithms, it should be possible to trigger trades, and make money on the deterministic buy/sell of the automatic trading.
>>>Anyway, is there any value/potential in the Cortex IP portfolio? I'm speculating there is and holding on to my hopium!
Yes.
But you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody who posts on this board who would argue that there is a hope in hell of cortex ever bringing anything to the clinic. This could have happened 4 years ago, but now it's almost impossible, and with each passing year, gets less likely because the patents are all getting too old.
thanks for sending it; let's hope for a reply.
Metabolic interactions between Cu and Zn are extremely complicated. While the suggestion here is that elevated Zn is associated with AD, Zn is protective against diabetes, where its protective action is due to its role as a substrate for a Cu chelator. Further, in juvenile animals, Zn mediates learning and memory, and is transiently elevated in cells undergoing plasticity. I've tended to think of elevated Zn in AD as a reflection of failed Zn homeostasis, and not as a disease driver.
This isn't my area of expertise though, so take this with a grain of salt.
the most promising on that list is CX 1942. Its application is narrow, and addresses a priority issue (opioid-induced RD). This may be the easiest compound to bring into the clinic, and would generate revenue. This isn't really an application in which an illness is being treated, the drug is being administered to mitigate an undesirable side-effect of another necessary drug. To my mind, this is a more straight-forward proposition.
The SA is a much heavier lift, and a much more complicated indication.
What is the expiration date of these patents? Can this IP still be monetized?
I just glanced over the corx website. I don't have a very good memory for this kind of thing, but it looks revamped. The company's strategy seems pretty well-defined. This doesn't look like window-dressing; my sense is that they plan on bringing the compounds they list forward to clinical trials. Whether they succeed is another matter.
Long story short: the corx ampakine IP is expired. The use patent held by Greer for RD still is viable, but probably only for another 2-3 years, and then the expiration date starts to be a problem again.
>>>
Cortex still has control of the compounds via the composition of matter patents
Isn't that in dispute? Corx is in arrears to UC Irvine, and I think they have let go of all IP that originated from UCI.
I don't dispute the science. They don't really have control of that IP any more. Most of the text is flat-out wrong.
If you could, this would be the kind of useful investor information to put front and center on this BB. All the stuff that's currently there is science fiction.
I guess it's too early to know where this thing is headed, but we know that ampakines are basically out. Can you just delete everything, leaving the charts, and a note that says "stay tuned"?
I'm passing the buck here, but it would probably take me longer to figure out how to get temporary board moderator status than it would take me to make the changes suggested. If nobody does it, it doesn't really matter: at 0.04, who cares about all the science?
gfp or anybody with the pooper-scooper: is there any possibility of cleaning up the corx page to more accurately reflect the status of the company?
My sense is that any compound, regardless of dosage, must be cleared by the FDA. I wouldn't be surprised if a grey-market emerged for nootropics. Whoever does that might run afoul of the FDA, but with multiple ampakines reaching the end of their patent life, but they would not have to worry about patent infringement.
I have too.
If there's nothing of value left, why did they sign up for the gig? The bankruptcy liquidation will at best return pennies on the dollar to the company's creditors.
The only reason I can see for why new management has taken over corx and a new BOD has formed is that they are going to do something with the IP. Greer's use patent is relatively recent, so they may see some hope there.
Given the time horizon they are operating on, I think that revisiting SA would be nuts. That's a really hard problem. RD is tractable though (maybe).
If they're working with the Alberta IP, it's a use patent for ampakines in RD, but the devil is in the details: does the use patent cover more recently developed ampakines? I've always liked this indication, so I'm happy.
How deep are the pockets of these people? Are they recapitalizing corx,or are they just pitching to potential partners? Do they have the kind of credibility that might open doors?
True, but protein synthesis requires mRNA. He was the guy I went back and forth on this one with.
A few years ago I got into a pissing contest about this. I've always maintained that the LIs likely upregulate BDNF too, but to a lesser extent. I don't even remember my arguments, but it's nice to see data that support this claim.
Another interesting development on the analgesia front:
Nature. 2012 Oct 25;490(7421):552-5. doi: 10.1038/nature11494. Epub 2012 Oct 3.
Black mamba venom peptides target acid-sensing ion channels to abolish pain.
Diochot S, Baron A, Salinas M, Douguet D, Scarzello S, Dabert-Gay AS, Debayle D, Friend V, Alloui A, Lazdunski M, Lingueglia E.
Source
CNRS, Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, UMR 7275, 06560 Valbonne, France.
Abstract
Polypeptide toxins have played a central part in understanding physiological and physiopathological functions of ion channels. In the field of pain, they led to important advances in basic research and even to clinical applications. Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are generally considered principal players in the pain pathway, including in humans. A snake toxin activating peripheral ASICs in nociceptive neurons has been recently shown to evoke pain. Here we show that a new class of three-finger peptides from another snake, the black mamba, is able to abolish pain through inhibition of ASICs expressed either in central or peripheral neurons. These peptides, which we call mambalgins, are not toxic in mice but show a potent analgesic effect upon central and peripheral injection that can be as strong as morphine. This effect is, however, resistant to naloxone, and mambalgins cause much less tolerance than morphine and no respiratory distress. Pharmacological inhibition by mambalgins combined with the use of knockdown and knockout animals indicates that blockade of heteromeric channels made of ASIC1a and ASIC2a subunits in central neurons and of ASIC1b-containing channels in nociceptors is involved in the analgesic effect of mambalgins. These findings identify new potential therapeutic targets for pain and introduce natural peptides that block them to produce a potent analgesia.
Thanks for the beautiful vids, especially the 2nd.
My own feeling about this is: it's done. It's over. It no longer matters in the slightest, because nothing can be done about any percieved or real harm/sin/omission/commission.
Get over it. If you need therapy, here's a good online source:
What do you think is going to happen to the RD indication?
Is this the end of the line? Do you concur with gfp that the new corx is focusing on cannabinoids, and forgetting about ampakines?
If corx fails to re-enter into a licensing agreement with UCI, does that mean that a licensing agreement can be drawn up between UCI and some other party? Assuming the licensing agreement is terminated, who owns the IP?
I know that Greer has the use patent on ampakines for RD. Is he now in a position to attempt to bring this to the clinic?
What do you think is going to happen to the RD indication?
Is this the end of the line? Do you concur with gfp that the new corx is focusing on cannabinoids, and forgetting about ampakines?
If corx fails to re-enter into a licensing agreement with UCI, does that mean that a licensing agreement can be drawn up between UCI and some other party? Assuming the licensing agreement is terminated, who owns the IP?
I know that Greer has the use patent on ampakines for RD. Is he now in a position to attempt to bring this to the clinic?
I understand your logic, but athero posted a while back that there were 133 M opioid prescriptions written in the year in question, and people keep dying. This is a failure of markets.
I also think the hint-of-concept understates the result of the RD trial. They got really solid consistent results that matched animal models. Above all, they got about as robust a result as they could have hoped for out of the trial design, so either the trial design was inadequate to the task, or they got better than hint-of-concept.
In any case this is all moot now. Blood under the bridge.
I missed that, and it's a telling point.
I think he's making a mistake.
Thanks to Haysaw and you for bringing these docs to our attention.
Who is liable for all this debt?
Is expanding the BOD consistent with a strategy to conduct a fire sale? Based on the actions of the new management, does anybody have any ideas about where they are planning on taking this IP?
I remain banjaxed by the fact that nothing has happened with the RD indication. Is nobody in pharma paying attention? RD is in all likelihood the biggest public health risk associated with taking medication, and the number of fatalities keeps rising. Incorporating an ampakine into their formulation would dramatically lower the risk. Why is this going unnoticed? A pharma that brings out a safer pain-management medication would have a mega-blockbuster on its hands. What gives?
If I were running the outfit, I would approach VCs with the simple pitch to secure funds to bring ampakines into the clinic for the most easily accessible indication, probably post operative RD. If/when it gains approval for that indication, move towards a partnership that incorporates ampakines in one of the many pain management formulations that are being used by millions. That's a big payday, and it's not that hard. Efficacy is established, and the market is huge.
By all means stand guard over what you have already lost. Most people will look at the valuation and figure out that this may not be the best investment.
well that simplifies everything. My guess is the only play they have now is RD.
I'm not sure Varney was ousted. Most people don't work for free, and corx's funds have basically dried up. They may have held the door open for him, but I doubt they had to push him through it.
Another possibility is that Dronabinol IP might be liquidated to finance ampakine development, or vice-versa.
Implicit in your analysis of the company's current strategy is that if they just lower the price enough, they'll find a buyer. I don't think the purchase price is what is keeping the buyers away. I think it's the cost of advancing the compound. For any of the indications you listed, this would be high, certainly higher than the IP cost. It's possible that there's a tendency to buy IP just to close out the competition, but this doesn't seem very likely to me here.
I'm just not sure there is a sufficient level of interest in ampakines to carry out a fire sale. I have no idea about what the cost of a phase II trial for opioid-induced RD reversal would be, either in a post-operative setting,or in conjunction with opioids administered for pain management. That's the number that prospective buyers have to swallow, and it also is the number that the new owners have to think about if they want to increase the likelihood of selling the IP.
opioid-induced deaths continue to rise:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ams/pub/amawire/2013-february-27/2013-february-27-physician.shtml
The bag-holders have to decide whether they are happy with pennies on the dollar, or whether they want to bring a low-impact forward to target opioid-induced RD. Efficacy has been established, and this could be a block-buster. It is a more focused drug development program than Varney's ill-fated and foolish SA gambit.
If it is accurate that Varney looked high and low and couldn't find a buyer, it's not clear to me that this new group is going to have any more success. Yes, Varney may have disregarded low-ball offers, but it isn't clear that these low-ball offers are any more attractive to the people running things now.
My sense is that the take-home is that Origin Ventures is the new, biggest stakeholder in corx (16.8%), exceeding Samyang (14.8%). Does anybody know about this group's MO, and where they are likely to steer corx?
see post 38838. Corx has had its phones disconnected. This takes us from virtual to telepathic. I think we're done.
It certainly looks like the whole thing is over.
This board should be terminated.
Who owns the IP? UCI? Varney?
this has nothing to do with corx.
It looks hopeless, but There are still suggestions that people with deep pockets retain interest in corx's IP:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=85541429
I think Lilly was developing high-impacts. The RD indication is treatable using low-impacts. Neuro argued that the clinical trials for combining opioids and ampakines to preempt RD would be costly, but my sense is that the tight causal link between widely used opioids and RD-induced death leaves drug companies exposed to the risk of lawsuits. My sense is that opioid dosages that effectively manage chronic pain are high enough to impact respiratory control, so there's not much wiggle room.
I don't think the problem is with ampakines. Opioids are indisputably more dangerous than ampakines, and they have been approved (I think you cited 133 M prescriptions in the US a while back); SSRIs remain poorly understood; statins can induce liver failure, etc.
There are 2 no-brainer indications where large phase-2 clinical trials would be justified: incorporation of ampakines in post-operative pain management, and end of life paliative care pain management. Both of these would provide better data about efficacy and safety, in a context where the downside risks of sticking with conventional care is greater than the risk of trying these new compounds.
The issue isn't financial. Opioid overdoses led to 17,000 deaths; this is likely a very low estimate of the actual mortality rate associated with opioids.
From JAMA:
Data recently released by the National Center
for Health Statistics show drug overdose deaths increased
for the 11th consecutive year in 2010.1 Pharmaceuticals,
especially opioid analgesics, have driven this increase.
Over 16K died because of opioid-induced RD that would have been prevented if the opioid had been administered in conjunction with an ampakine.
This is incomprehensibly stupid.
I get that for indications like ADHD or even AD, but post-operative opioid-induced respiratory depression? Shouldn't this sail through? I still don't get why RD doesn't find takers.
This is really good news, on every level (patients, companies, researchers). Thanks for posting it.
I periodically google "ampakines" to see if anything is happening in this area. This is what I got: