RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Subsidiary ResolutionRx Ltd Enters into Master Services Agreement for Dronabinol Manufacturing and Related Services
- Partnership with Ab Initio Pharma will help RespireRx and ResolutionRx in the development and commercialization of dronabinol lipid nanoparticle formulation for obstructive sleep apnea
- None.
Glen Rock, N.J., Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTC Pink Market: RSPI) (“RespireRx” or the “Company”), focused on the discovery and development of innovative and revolutionary treatments to combat diseases caused by disruption of neuronal signaling, and ResolutionRx Ltd (“ResolutionRx”), an unlisted public Australian company, (Australian Company Number or ACN: 664 925 651) and a subsidiary of RespireRx, are pleased to announce that on October 9, 2023, ResolutionRx entered into a Master Services Agreement (“MSA”) with Ab Initio Pharma Pty Ltd, (“Ab Initio”) an Australian company under which Ab Initio will manufacture, formulate, test and supply ResolutionRx with therapeutic drugs based on lipid nanoparticle technology licensed from RespireRx.
The initial services relate to ResolutionRx’s repurposing of dronabinol and its development program for obstructive sleep apnea pursuant to which Ab Initio will, among other things, manufacture and test our new dronabinol lipid nanoparticle formulation for pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and pivotal clinical trials, as well as ultimately for commercialization. The initial term of the MSA is two years and automatically renews for one-year periods unless ResolutionRx provides written notice to Ab Initio of its intent not to renew at least ninety days prior to the end of the initial term or any renewal term.
“The importance of this partnership cannot be overstated,” said Arnold Lippa, Ph.D., co-CEO and CSO of ResolutionRx and CEO and CSO of RespireRx. “With its formulation expertise and GMP manufacturing facilities, Ab Initio will complete our original laboratory experiments to determine a final, optimum dronabinol formulation, scale up and manufacture the chosen formulation for clinical use. The lipid nanoparticle technology not only represents a major step forward in the development of dronabinol, but the potential for more widespread use for insoluble or poorly soluble drugs.”
About RespireRx Group
RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its subsidiaries and business units (“RespireRx Group”) are discovering and developing medicines for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders, with a focus on treatments that address conditions affecting millions of people, but for which there are few or poor treatment options, including obstructive sleep apnea (“OSA”), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”), epilepsy, pain, recovery from spinal cord injury (“SCI”), and certain neurological orphan diseases . The RespireRx Group is developing a pipeline of new and repurposed drug products based on our broad patent portfolios for two drug platforms: (i) pharmaceutical cannabinoids, which include dronabinol, a synthetic form of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (“Δ9- THC”) that acts upon the nervous system’s endogenous cannabinoid receptors and (ii) neuromodulators, which include AMPAkines and GABAkines, proprietary chemical entities that positively modulate (positive allosteric modulators or “PAMs”) AMPA-type glutamate receptors and GABAA receptors, respectively.
The RespireRx Group holds exclusive licenses and owns patents and patent applications or rights thereto for certain families of chemical compounds that claim the chemical structures and their uses in the treatment of a variety of disorders, as well as claims for novel uses of known drugs.
ResolutionRx: Pharmaceutical Cannabinoids.
ResolutionRx Ltd (Australian Company Number a/k/a ACN 664 925 651) was formed in Australia on 11th January 2023 by RespireRx as an unlisted public company. RespireRx has contributed by sublicense and license with ResolutionRx, its sleep apnea drug development program subject to certain liabilities. ResolutionRx will now engage in the research and development (“R&D”) associated with that program, initially for the development of a new formulation of dronabinol for use in a Phase 3 clinical trial and the filing of regulatory approval for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (“OSA”). The current total budget for that program over the next several years is approximately US
Because dronabinol is already FDA approved for the treatment of AIDS related anorexia and chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, RespireRx and ResolutionRx further believe that its repurposing strategy would only require, in the United States, approval by the FDA of a 505(b)(2) new drug application (“NDA”), an efficient regulatory pathway that allows the use of publicly available data.
EndeavourRx: Neuromodulators
GABAkines. Under a License Agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation, Inc. (“UWMRF”) and on behalf of its EndeavourRx business unit, RespireRx has licensed rights to certain selectively acting GABAkines because of their ability to selectively amplify inhibitory neurotransmission at a highly specific, subset of GABAA receptors, thus producing a unique efficacy profile with reduced side effects. Preclinical studies have documented their efficacy in a broad array of animal models of interrelated neurological and psychiatric disorders including epilepsy, pain, anxiety, and depression in the absence of or with greatly reduced propensity to produce sedation, motor-impairment, tolerance, dependence and abuse. EndeavourRx currently is focusing on developing KRM-II-81 for the treatment of epilepsy and pain.
KRM-II-81 has displayed a high degree of anti-convulsant activity in a broad range of preclinical studies, including in treatment resistant and pharmaco-resistant models. Not only was KRM-II-81 highly effective in these models, but pharmaco-resistance or tolerance did not develop to its anti-convulsant properties. These latter results are particularly important because pharmaco-resistance occurs when medications that once controlled seizures lose efficacy as a result of chronic use and it is a principal reason some epileptic patients require brain surgery to control their seizures. In support of its potential clinical efficacy, translational studies have demonstrated the ability of KRM-II-81 to dramatically reduce epileptiform electrical activity when administered in situ to brain slices excised from treatment-resistant epileptic patients undergoing surgery.
In addition, KRM-II-81 has displayed a high degree of analgesic activity in a broad range of preclinical studies. In intact animal models of pain, the analgesic efficacy of KRM-II-81 was comparable to or greater than commonly used analgesics. At the same time, KRM-II-81 did not display side effects such as sedation and motor impairment, but even more importantly, it did not produce tolerance, dependence, respiratory depression or behavioral changes indicative of abuse liability, which are produced by opioid narcotics and are at the heart of the opioid epidemic.
AMPAkines. Through an extensive translational research effort from the cellular level through Phase 2 clinical trials, RespireRx has developed a family of novel, low impact AMPAkines, including CX717, CX1739 and CX1942 that may have clinical application in the treatment of CNS-driven neurobehavioral and cognitive disorders, spinal cord injury, neurological diseases, and certain orphan indications. Our lead clinical compounds, CX717 and CX1739, have successfully completed multiple Phase 1 safety trials. Both compounds have also completed Phase 2 proof of concept trials demonstrating target engagement, by antagonizing the ability of opioids to induce respiratory depression.
AMPAkines have demonstrated positive activity in animal models of ADHD, results that have been extended translationally into statistically significant improvement of symptoms observed in a Phase 2 human clinical trial of CX717 in adult patients with ADHD. Statistically significant therapeutic effects were observed within one week. We believe AMPAkines may represent a novel, non-stimulant treatment for ADHD with a more rapid onset of action than alternative non- stimulants, such as Straterra® (atomoxetine), and without the drawbacks of amphetamine-type stimulants.
In a series of important studies funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and published in a number of peer reviewed articles, Dr. David Fuller (University of Florida), a long-time RespireRx collaborator, has demonstrated the ability of CX1739 and CX717, RespireRx’s lead AMPAkines, to improve motor nerve activity and muscle function in a number of animal models of spinal cord injury (SCI).
Additional information about RespireRx and the matters discussed herein can be obtained on the RespireRx web- site at www.RespireRx.com or RespireRx’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) at www.sec.gov. Additional information about ResolutionRx and the matters discussed herein can be obtained on the ResolutionRx website at https://www.resolutionrx.com.au.
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Company Contacts:
Arnold Lippa
ResolutionRx Ltd.
Director and co-Chief Executive Officer
0011+1+201-906-2467
alippa@ResolutionRx.com.au
www.ResolutionRx.com.au
Jeff Margolis
RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary
Telephone: 917-834-7206
Email: jmargolis@respirerx.com
126 Valley Road, Suite C
Glen Rock, NJ 07452
www.respirerx.com
FAQ
What is the partnership between RespireRx, ResolutionRx, and Ab Initio Pharma about?
What is the initial term of the Master Services Agreement?
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