Medical News Today -- A paper that appears in the June 2009 issue of Anesthesiology details how AMPAKINE CX717, a Phase II compound created by Irvine, California-based neuroscience company Cortex Pharmaceuticals, demonstrated the rescue of fentanyl-induced respiratory depression and sleep apnea in rats. In this same study, CX717 demonstrated equal efficacy with the opioid antagonist Naloxone, a drug used to counter the effects of opioids on suppression of breathing. CX717 did not, however, interfere with the action of pain-killing opiates. This offers a distinct advantage compared with Naloxone and could provide a novel therapeutic means of treating those patients who are particularly prone to breathing depression with opiates while achieving maximum pain relief.
