SAN DIEGO, July 7, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MediciNova Inc, a biopharmaceutical company publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Market (Nasdaq:MNOV) and the Hercules Market of the Osaka Securities Exchange (Code Number:4875), today reported that the June 22, 2010 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) USA included an article related to the mechanism of action of MN-166 (ibudilast), as an emerging therapeutic for neurological disorders. The research was lead by Dr. Elias Lolis at Yale University, and the article identifies Macrophage Migration Inhibitor Factor (MIF) as a potent and selective target for ibudilast which likely accounts for some of the drug’s anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective action. MIF is one of the oldest-known pro-inflammatory cytokines thought to be involved in a number of serious medical conditions including severe systemic inflammation, autoimmunity and neuronal death and dysfunction following spinal cord injury.
