Neurotech Insights
March 31, 2008
Inside This Issue: Restless Leg Syndrome
Top News Alerts: Product Updates, Deals & Financings
Featured Topic: Restless Leg Syndrome Etiology and Treatments
Featured Company Interview: Xenoport (XNPT)
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Market Highlights: Neurotech Stocks Continue to Slide
The NASDAQ NeuroInsights Neurotech Index (^NERV) continued to take a beating this month as investors sold for reasons ranging from bad news to post-Phase III profit taking. Neurogen (NRGN) beat the odds to gain 21%, likely due to recent restructuring including the promotion of a new CEO, Steve Davis, and efforts to increase the value of their pipeline, including new plans for trials in anxiety and schizophrenia. Corcept (CORT) was also up after announcing a new attempt at a Phase III trial, incorporating lessons learned in a previously unsuccessful trial for Corlux in psychotic depression (see story, page 6)...
Wrestling with Restless Leg Syndrome
Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a disorder characterized by discomfort in the legs at rest resulting in an uncontrollable urge to initiate movement in order to ease symptoms. More than half the cases are idiopathic or of unknown origin. In RLS patients, any attempt at relaxation is quickly interrupted by increasing symptom severity until the patient gets up and starts moving. RLS symptoms get worse at night and the condition prevents many patients from falling asleep or staying asleep. When that happens, it may lead to daytime sleepiness, memory impairment, and trouble concentrating. RLS is a neurological disorder that is often associated with a more common idiopathic condition known as periodic limb movement disorder (PLDM). A variety of medications are used to treat RLS and a number of new options are in development…
Xenoport (XNPT): A Neuropharmaceutical Company on the Rise
Dr. Ron Barrett, co-founder and CEO of Xenoport (XNPT), is a pharmacologist who started his career at Abbott in CNS discovery. From there he joined Affymax, a company focused on high-throughput screening founded by Alejandro Zaffaroni. When the company was acquired by GlaxoWellcome, now GlaxoSmithKline, he and two colleagues decided to leave and start a new company focused on resolving obstacles in drug development. "We saw many leads discovered with high throughput screening and combinatorial chemistry that failed to progress because of bioavailability issues," says Barrett…
Companies Covered In This Issue Include: Akela Pharma, Alexza, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Auriga Labs, Cell Therapeutics, Clinical Data, Corcept Therapeutics, Cortex Pharmaceuticals, D-Pharm, Debiopharm, Depomed, Eli Lilly, Evotec, Neurobiological Technologies, Neurologix, Neurosearch, Nuvelo, Pipex Pharmaceuticals, Progenics, Posit Science, Sirtris Pharma, Wyeth, Xenoport, Zogenix Amarin, Avanir Pharmaceuticals, California Stem Cell Inc, Genomas, Hydra Biosciences, Memory Pharmaceuticals, Pangenics, Psyring, Travena, Sound Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmacueitcals, Novartis, Concentric Medical, NFocus, BrainCells, Xenoport, Wyeth, Epix Pharmceuticals, Teva, Kyowa, Neurogen, Aspect Medical.
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