January 22, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Johnson & Johnson has halted a trial of an experimental fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor, a drug similar to one being tested in France by a Portuguese pharmaceutical company that left one patient brain dead and five others hospitalized, Reuters reported this morning.
A Johnson & Johnson spokesperson told Reuters the company voluntarily suspended two mid-stage trials and “had not received reports of serious adverse events in its studies of patients with social anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder with anxious distress.” During Phase I studies of its FAAH drug, Johnson & Johnson reported few side effects of the drug, although three patients did show increased liver enzymes after taking 100 milligram doses of the drug for 10 days. During the Phase II trials, which were halted, patients were only being given doses of 25 milligrams and reported “no observed effects on liver enzymes,” Reuters said. The company said it would reevaluate the trials when it has more information, Reuters added.
Still, it seems the tragedy of the French trials, of the FAAH inhibitor being developed by Portugal-based Bial-Portela was enough to cause Johnson & Johnson to step back and reassess before moving forward.
FAAH inhibitors are designed to break down endocannabinoids, including anandamide, in the brain and are being investigated for use in the treatment of chronic pain. These molecules activate cannabinoid receptors—the same ones that bind THC, the key component of cannabis, a report in Science magazine said. Bial’s BIA 10-2474, the drug tested in the French facility, is designed to inhibit FAAH, and thus slow the breakdown of endogenous cannabinoids, which might help fight pain, the magazine said.
Initial reports said the Bial drug was cannabis based, but it turned out to be a drug aimed at targeting the body’s cannabinoid system. Seth Yakatan, chief executive officer of California-based Kalytera Therapeutics, a company developing cannabinoid-based drugs for the treatment of obesity and osteoporosis, said he spent much of the weekend dispelling rumors about the Bial drug. Because of the inaccuracies being reported, Yakatan said it was important to quell any relationship between the Bial trial and cannabis-based therapeutics.
There are two medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals in pill form that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Researchers are investigating the use of cannabinoids for the treatment of several diseases and conditions including HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and pain.
Other pharmaceutical companies are developing FAAH inhibitors, including Merck and Pfizer , which are developing FAAH inhibitors for treatment of osteoarthritis pain, insomnia, Tourette syndrome and cannabis withdrawal.
