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Pharma Tech Outlook | Wednesday, June 16, 2021
The firm has been collaborating with Dr. Fuller of the University of Florida, who is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study the usage of our AMPAkines for the therapy of impaired motor function in people who have suffered a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).
FREMONT, CA: RespireRx Pharmaceuticals, a leader in discovering and developing innovative treatments to combat diseases caused by disruption of neuronal signaling, recently announced that Dr. Sabhya Rana, Michael Sunshine, and David Fuller presented a poster entitled Low Dose Ampakine Stimulates Diaphragm Activity and Increases Tidal Volume Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in Non-anesthetized Freely Behaving Rats at the Annual Experimental Biology Conference, which was conducted online this year, April 27-30.
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“The ongoing collaboration between RespireRx and the University of Florida has generated potentially groundbreaking data in the treatment of spinal cord injury. We are very excited by the role that our AMPAkine product candidates may play in further progressing much needed treatments for SCI,” said Tim Jones, CEO, and President, RespireRx
The firm has been collaborating with Dr. Fuller of the University of Florida, who is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study the usage of our AMPAkines for the therapy of impaired motor function in people who have suffered a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). When evaluated under anesthesia in a surgical context, the Fuller Laboratory has previously shown that acute treatment with AMPAkines CX717 and CX1739 can augment inspiratory phrenic motor output in rat models of incomplete cervical SCI. When given in combination with acute intermittent hypoxia, a treatment known to accelerate synaptic plasticity, AMPAkines were found to increase motor nerve activity under baseline conditions as well.
According to Dr. Fuller, “Cervical SCI results in respiratory compromise which is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. These animal models of motor nerve function following SCI support proof of concept for a new treatment paradigm using AMPAkines to improve motor functions in patients with SCI.”
The research presented at the conference was carried out on awake, freely moving rats, which is similar to the situation faced by SCI patients in the real world. Rats were given single, low dosage (5 mg/kg) intravenous injections of CX717, CX1739, or vehicle at 4 and 14 days after C2 cervical spinal hemisection damage. Both AMPAkines improved diaphragm motor nerve activity (EMG) ipsilateral to the injured side during baseline breathing and the acute respiratory challenge at 4-days after injury. In addition, both AMPAkines produced persistent increases in ipsilateral diaphragm EMG output and increased output during respiratory challenge 14 days after injury.
Dr. Arnold Lippa, Chief Scientific Officer, said that “We are continuing our collaborative preclinical research with Dr. Fuller to determine whether other forms of motor activity might be improved. At the same time, we are planning a clinical trial program focused on developing AMPAkines for the restoration of certain motor functions in patients with SCI. The company is working with researchers at highly regarded clinical sites to finalize a Phase 2 clinical trial protocol, which we intend to submit to the FDA.”
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