WATERTOWN, Mass., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- EnVivo Pharmaceuticals today announced the initiation and dosing of patients in a Phase 2b study of its EVP-6124 compound, a selective alpha-7 nicotinic agonist in patients with schizophrenia. EnVivo is conducting the multi-center, dose ranging, placebo controlled, three-month study in the U.S. and Europe.
"Patients with schizophrenia have a well documented deficit in cognitive function," said Kees Been, EnVivo president and CEO. "The cognitive impairment in schizophrenia is not effectively treated with present antipsychotic medications and there is growing consensus that alpha-7 nicotinic agonists can potentially improve the cognitive function in patients. The potential upside for patients is considerable and we look forward to completing our study by the end of this year."
A previous study with EVP-6124 in chronic schizophrenia patients on stable long term antipsychotic medications demonstrated that it was well tolerated and produced significant effects on a variety of electrophysiologic measures of brain function assessing sensory processing and working memory formation. Patients with schizophrenia have abnormalities in a number of evoked responses (ERPs) that measure brain function including the p50, N100, Mis-Match Negativity, and p300 responses. EVP-6124 had normalizing effects on all of these abnormal responses including the Mis-Match Negativity Response which correlates significantly with the level of clinical function in schizophrenia patients.
About EnVivo Pharmaceuticals
EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, located in Watertown, Mass., is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics for disorders of the central nervous system, with a current focus on Alzheimer's disease, cognitive disorders and schizophrenia. The company's lead product is an alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist and has been tested in Phase 2a clinical trials for cognition disorders in Alzheimer's disease and Schizophrenia. The company's other programs include an epigenetics program based on Histone Deacetylase inhibition (HDACi) with EVP-0334 as the lead molecule for cognition in Alzheimer's disease which is in Phase 1 studies, and several preclinical programs such as a Gamma Secretase Modulator (for Alzheimer's disease) and a PDE10 inhibitor program (for schizophrenia). For more information about EnVivo, visit www.envivopharma.com.
CONTACT: Michael Aalto for EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, +1-617-563-9462
Web site: http://www.envivopharma.com/
