Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Renews and Expands Collaboration on HERG Ion Channel and Drug Development with Pfizer Inc.
PASADENA, CA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 8, 2004--Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
an ion channel drug discovery company, announced today that it has reached
agreement with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE; www.pfizer.com) to renew and expand a
research collaboration that the two companies initiated in December, 2002.
The collaboration will now continue through 2004 and include modeling of drug
binding to the HERG potassium ion channel, as well as new evaluation of Pfizer
compounds using Neurion’s NP2 technology.
In the collaboration, Neurion scientists apply the Company’s proprietary NP2 technology to evaluate and model
the molecular determinants of drug binding to the HERG ion channel. Unintended blockade of the HERG channel
by certain drugs has been associated with a type of side effect called drug-induced long QT syndrome. This
syndrome can result in serious cardiac arrhythmias.
"We made significant and rapid progress in the first year of our collaboration with Pfizer to adapt our NP2
technology to the HERG channel," said Dr. Mark Suto, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer
of Neurion. The information generated as part of the collaboration has led to new insights on how drugs
interact with this ion channel. "We are now moving forward with Pfizer to build upon the results from the
first year of our collaboration and apply our findings to the challenge of designing safe and selective
drugs that are free of unwanted HERG interactions."
During the past five years, a number of drugs have been removed from the market or eliminated from research
pipelines due to their potential to block the HERG channel. Pharmaceutical companies are devoting
significant resources to better understand and then eliminate known HERG blockers early in development.
However, the lack of structure/function relationships for this unwanted HERG blockade makes this an
unpredictable and costly endeavor.
As part of its agreement with Pfizer, Neurion receives research funding and retains rights to its proprietary
HERG model and NP2 discovery platform. Neurion provides Pfizer with results which Pfizer may incorporate into
its drug discovery and development programs. Neurion has demonstrated that its NP2 technology can elicit highly
detailed structural and functional information that may eventually be used to design selective compounds or to
modify existing drugs in ways that reduce or eliminate unwanted interactions.
NP2 is a unique drug discovery and lead optimization platform that can provide highly detailed information about
the structure and function of ion channels and other membrane proteins, which comprise more than 50% of all known
molecular targets for drug therapy. Neurion is leveraging its relationships with large corporate partners in the
pharmaceutical industry to scale up its internal R&D program. The company is seeking additional funding through
partnerships and venture capital investments to develop its first product, a drug to treat anxiety without
unwanted sedation.
About Neurion
Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.neurionpharma.com) is a
privately held, development-stage pharmaceutical company that is focused on the discovery of novel drugs for
diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), including anxiety, cognition disorders and epilepsy. The Company
applies its NP2 technology to develop small molecule drugs with greater selectivity for clinically validated ion
channel and receptor targets in the brain. In addition to its collaboration with Pfizer, Neurion is also engaged
in a collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY; www.lilly.com).
