By Kim Coghill

Washington Editor

Cognetix Inc., a Salt Lake City-based developer of therapies for central and peripheral nervous system disorders, raised $17 million in its second round of financing.

Scott Hagen, Cognetix¿s chief financial officer, told BioWorld Today that the funding is expected to carry the company through the next two years.

Cognetix was established in October 1997 with $5 million, and is advancing its lead product, CGX-1007, into Phase IIa studies. CGX-1007, an NMDA receptor antagonist for intractable epilepsy, is the result of a collaboration between Cognetix and Medtronic Inc., a Minneapolis-based medical device manufacturer.

A second product, CGX-1002, is a selective sodium channel blocker that is in preclinical evaluation as a local anesthetic for treating burn pain, ocular pain and surgical pain. The company¿s third product, CGX-1160, is a novel, non-opioid analgesic for management of post-operative pain. Cognetix and Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, are collaborating on CGX-1160, which is in the late stage of clinical development.

MDS Ventures Pacific Inc., of Vancouver, led the Series B-1 round of financing and other participants were AIG Global Investment Corp., of New York; AM Pappas and Associates, of New York; Royal Bank Capital Partners, of Vancouver; and Zesiger Capital Group, of New York.

Cognetix¿s research and development efforts focus on conopeptides that come from venoms of predatory sea snails. Conopeptides are potent with precision for their receptor and ion channel targets. Cognetix¿s platform focuses on epilepsy, pain and anesthetic applications.

According to Cognetix, Phase I studies of CGX-1007, a compound derived from a venomous sea snail, shows early promise for the treatment of intractable epilepsy when delivered directly to the central nervous system.

A Phase I randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involved intravenous delivery of single, escalating doses of CGX-1007 in healthy, normal subjects to determine safety when administered to the systemic circulation. Results show that the compound was safe, with no clinically remarkable drug-related adverse experiences.

In the next step, Cognetix will test the safety and efficacy of CGX-1007 in patients with epilepsy.

Cognetix in February received a $100,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the Bethesda, Md.-based National Institutes of Health to investigate the potential of a conopeptide-based treatment for asthma.

In September, the company received a $98,900 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the NIH¿s Neurological Disorders and Stroke Institute for discovery and development of treatments for chronic pain, also using conopeptides.