METYS PHARMACEUTICALS

Metys Pharmaceuticals is developing MP-101 to prevent and treat chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, an uncomfortable and troubling side effect of several important cancer treatments. MP-101 is an orally-active modulator of glutamate signalling in spine and brain. Glutamate signalling has long been a sought-after target for the development of new central nervous system drug candidates. MP-101 is a particularly well-suited candidate, with outstanding pharmaceutic properties; it is a smal... l molecule, obtained by a straight-forward chemical manufacturing process. It is also orally active in a wide range of rodent models of central nervous system disorders, such as depression, cognition, or neuropathic pain. MP-101 is a patent-pending non-racemic mixture of the left-handed and right-handed versions (the "enantiomers") of dimiracetam. It is not a one-to-one mixture (a "racemate"), but a ratio that has been chosen because it is - unexpectedly - considerably more potent pharmacologically than the racemate. While the one-to-one mixture has long been known to be superior to either of the two single-handed enantiomers alone, Metys Pharmaceuticals has discovered that certain mixtures of dimiracetam enantiomers are far more potent still. Metys Pharmaceuticals has licensed the world-wide exclusive rights to racemic dimiracetam from Neurotune AG, including the entire dossier of regulatory studies supporting clinical trials of racemic dimiracetam. Metys Pharmaceuticals now aims to use these pharmacological, toxicological and clinical data obtained with racemic dimiracetam to support the future clinical trials of MP-101.More