finally some good news for NBIX...long time coming SAN DIEGO, April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX - News) announced today that it has completed the dosing and preliminary assessment of the initial cohort of Tardive Dyskinesia patients using its proprietary Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2 inhibitor (VMAT2), NBI-98854. Based on this data, the Company is initiating the Investigational New Drug (IND) application process with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "We are very pleased with these preliminary results from our VMAT2 Phase IIa study," said Christopher F. O'Brien, Chief Medical Officer of Neurocrine Biosciences. "Over the twelve days of treatment with our VMAT2 inhibitor, subjects showed a marked improvement in abnormal hyperkinetic movements. The drug was generally well tolerated and showed the desired pharmacokinetic profile previously demonstrated in two Phase I studies." The open-label Phase IIa study was designed to assess efficacy, safety and tolerability of NBI-98854 in up to ten schizophrenia patients who have moderate to severe Tardive Dyskinesia over a twelve-day period. The impact on the dyskinesia was assessed utilizing the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS). The dosing regimen consisted of three, four-day periods of NBI-98854 at increasing doses of 12.5mg, 25mg and 50mg administered once daily. After discontinuation of NBI-98854, a seven-day washout period was followed by a final assessment. The study inclusion criteria included a baseline total score of at least nine on the first seven components of the AIMS, with at least two body regions receiving scores of moderate (3) or severe (4). For this cohort of six subjects, the mean baseline score was 14.3 (AIMS total items 1-7, possible total score of 28). After the twelve days of dosing in six subjects, the mean AIMS score decreased to 8.4, a reduction of 41.3%. Reduction in abnormal involuntary movements was shown across multiple assessment points. After the seven-day washout period most patients' AIMS scores returned to their baseline levels. The adverse events reported during administration of study drug were transient and mild or moderate including one subject with dizziness and one with restlessness. One subject became anxious and agitated seven days after stopping the study medication due to return of baseline-intensity dyskinesia. About the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) The AIMS was developed in 1976, and has been used extensively in movement disorder assessments. It consists of ten distinct ratings that are observed both spontaneously and upon activation. Ratings one through seven score facial, extremity and trunk movements; items eight through ten are overall global judgments of severity, incapacitation and patient awareness. All ten ratings are scored on a zero to four scale with zero being rated as none, and four being rated as severe. About NBI-98854 VMAT2 is a protein concentrated in the human brain that is primarily responsible for re-packaging and transporting monoamines (dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and histamine) among nerve cells. NBI-98854, developed in the Neurocrine laboratories, is a novel, highly-selective VMAT2 inhibitor that modulates dopamine release during nerve communication, while at the same time having minimal impact on the other monoamines thereby reducing the likelihood of "off target" side effects. NBI-98854 is designed to provide low, sustained, plasma and brain concentrations of active drug to minimize side effects associated with excessive dopamine depletion. NBI-98854 may well be useful in other disorders such as Huntington's chorea, schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, and Tardive Dystonia. Next Steps for NBI-98854 All of the clinical work to date for NBI-98854 has been conducted in Canada. The Company plans to open an IND in the United States this year. The current Phase IIa study has the option of enrolling up to four additional subjects over the next few months. While additional data are not necessary to proceed to IND filing in the US, these data would be considered informative to the overall development program. The Company will be conducting three-month in vivo toxicology studies to support longer dosing regimens. A placebo-controlled cross-over design Phase II study is expected to be initiated in the United States during the third quarter of this year to further assess NBI-98854. A larger, longer term Phase IIb study is planned to be initiated in early 2012 to assess three-month dosing of NBI-98854. About Tardive Dyskinesia Tardive Dyskinesia is characterized by involuntary, repetitive movements of the extremities, lip smacking, grimacing, tongue protrusion, rapid eye movements or blinking, puckering and pursing of the lips, or impaired movement of the fingers. These symptoms are rarely reversible and there is currently no known treatment.
Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NBIX)- I have been waiting for big news Good or Bad for a long time now....something big has to come out sooonnn At this point i just want big news.....
It may be time to bring this once popular and profitable thread back to life. When the seas get stormy the fish go to the deep and dark bottom called the OTCBB. Only green in my account today were the pennies. Try to keep from the typical P&D. We did a pretty good job of that years ago. Should the moderator say no, so be it. I'll wait for a before posting