BOCA RATON, FL–Nutra Pharma Corp. (OTCBB:NPHC), a biotech company, says its ReceptoPharm drug development holding has successfully completed a study of its lead candidate for pain derived from cobra venom.
The continuing pain studies, being conducted in collaboration with Soochow University, recently found that the drug, RPI-78 was successful in controlling pain with a long duration of effect.
A previous study, entitled, “A long-form α-neurotoxin from cobra venom produces potent opioid-independent analgesia” was published in the April 2006 issue of Acta Pharmacologica Sinica and explored the pain relieving effects of cobratoxin on laboratory mice.
The latest data demonstrated that RPI-78 was as effective as morphine at blocking pain signals in that part of the brain that signals the presence of pain. It was also confirmed that the drug did not use an opioid mechanism. The duration of RPI-78’s effect was superior to morphine’s.
“Given the positive results of our study, we plan to continue our efforts to develop RPI-78 as an analgesic,” explained Dr. Paul Reid, CEO of ReceptoPharm, Inc. “We believe that the data from this study and from previous studies may be sufficient to commence a Phase I clinical study in subjects with severe pain,” he said.
Clinical studies with early formulations of RPI-78 revealed that the drug was effective in subjects with pain from terminal cancer, arthritis, headaches and amputations, even where morphine was ineffective.
Additionally, the treatment revealed no toxicity and subjects reported no side effects. Low-dose, bi-weekly injections were found to control pain in many subjects for periods reaching 4 years.
Nutra Pharma Corp. is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the acquisition, licensing and commercialization of pharmaceutical products and technologies for the management of neurological disorders, cancer, autoimmune and infectious diseases.
On the Web: www.nutrapharma.com; www.recptopharm.com
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