DNAPrint genomics Licenses Ritalin-Like Compounds Targeting Enhanced Treatment of Drug Addiction and Attention Deficit DNAPrint genomics, Inc. (OTC BB: DNAG) today announced it has licensed a series of methylphenidate analogs or Ritalin(TM)-like compounds targeting the clinical development of enhanced pharmaceuticals for the treatment of drug addiction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression. This is the second drug project that will be developed by DNAPrint Pharmaceuticals. Inc., the Company's wholly owned, recently formed pharmaceutical subsidiary focused on personalized medicine.
The licensed compounds are analogs of Ritalin(TM), a well-known drug used for treatment of ADHD. The analogs are designed specifically to have a slow onset and increased half-life in the blood stream, thus reducing a patient's required daily dosage and the potential for drug abuse.
Methylphenidate was first introduced in the 1940s for patients suffering from narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder. Methylphenidate later was found to be useful in treating hyperactive children and adults with depression. One of the drawbacks for methylphenidate is the requirement for multiple daily doses because the drug reaches peak plasma concentrations in two hours and the half-life is only one to three hours, with 80% of the drug excreted during urination. Dosing starts out low and is gradually escalated to a maximum of 60 mg per day for children.
"Our methylphenidate analogs are designed to treat depression and hyperactivity while reducing the required dosing and mitigating significantly the potential for abuse. Additionally, the compounds have potential as treatments for cocaine abuse. In fact, the National Institute for Drug Abuse is advancing one of the compounds in its search for pharmaco-therapies for cocaine abuse," said Dr. Mark Froimowitz, the leading researcher from whom the technology was licensed. "These compounds were designed using molecular modeling and synthesized in a process developed by Dr. Charles Kelley. This research has come out of 25 years of work in the fields of drug addiction, Parkinson's disease and ADHD."
Drs. Froimowitz and Kelley have applied for patents for the newly licensed compounds.
Ritalin(TM) or methylphenidate analogs represent a $4.6 billion dollar market opportunity by 2014, according to the consulting and research firm Decision Resources, Inc. "That's a significant opportunity for DNAPrint genomics and other drug developers," said Richard Gabriel, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. "The unique properties of these new compounds coupled with DNAPrint's expertise in determining the inherited gene characteristics of potential patients will enable us to target research on a drug for patients who respond positively to treatment, and hopefully, develop new compounds for those who might reject such a drug."
Dr. Froimowitz and DNAPrint genomics are also working with the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) in identifying compounds that offer potential relief to the craving usually associated with drug abuse.
"One of the underlying goals is to utilize the newly licensed Froimowitz analogs to develop drugs for patients who do not respond to methylphenidate treatment at all," said Dr. Hector J. Gomez, DNAPrint's Chief Medical Officer. "We are all very excited about combining our ability to identify responder and non-responder patients using genetic ancestry and other clinical markers and target clinical development programs toward those patients."
Mark Froimowitz,* Yonghong Gu, Les A. Dakin, Pamela M. Nagafuji, Charles J. Kelley, Damon Parrish, Jeffrey R. Deschamps, and Aaron Janowsky
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 179 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, The Laboratory for the Structure of Matter, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20375, and Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Methamphetamine Abuse Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, 3710 Southwest U.S. Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, Oregon 97239
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