ANN ARBOR, MI--(MARKET WIRE)--Jul 10, 2007 -- Pipex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX:PP - News), a specialty pharmaceutical company developing innovative late-stage drug candidates for the treatment of neurologic and fibrotic diseases, announced today that it has acquired an exclusive license to patented zinc-monocysteine complexes (“Z-monocys”). Z-monocys is initially being developed as an oral treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). According to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, AMD currently affects approximately 10 million people in the U.S. and is the leading cause of blindness in persons over age 65. Oral Z-monocys has successfully completed a six-month, 80-patient, randomized, double-blind clinical trial for the treatment of dry AMD. In this trial, Z-monocys demonstrated statistically significant improvements in the major clinical features of dry AMD, including visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and photorecovery times, as compared to placebo. A manuscript describing the results of this study has been submitted for publication in a leading peer-reviewed ophthalmology journal.
