ABVC Biopharma Inc is headquartered in San Francisco but it has its roots in Taiwan where it is digging into traditional medicine and validating it for the modern world. “There are a number of drugs that can’t be synthesized in the lab,” ABVC CEO Howard Doong told BioWorld, so he is going back to the original source of traditional Chinese medicines to validate them using traditional drug development models.
Magstim Inc. received U.S. FDA clearance for use of its Horizon 3.0 and E-z Cool Coil to treat adult patients diagnosed with both obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). The company’s non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy offers an option for patients who do not find adequate relief from the often life-disrupting symptoms of OCD with exposure therapy or medication.
Investigators at Relmada Therapeutics Inc. believe the same problem that plagued an earlier phase III effort called Reliance-3 – an “implausibly” high placebo response at certain sites – also foiled the latest phase III study (conducted at overlapping sites) known as Reliance-1, testing REL-1017 (esmethadone), meant as an adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder.
Axsome Therapeutics Inc.’s AXS-05 (dextromethorphan + bupropion) has notched another success by hitting its phase III primary endpoint in treating a notoriously difficult Alzheimer’s disease (AD) indication when compared to placebo. Newly released data from the Accord study showed AXS-05, an oral, NMDA receptor antagonist with multimodal activity, statistically significantly delayed time to relapse of AD agitation vs. placebo (p=0.014), which was the primary endpoint.
Avenue Therapeutics Inc.’s takeover of Baergic Bio Inc. pursuant to the previously disclosed share contribution agreement with its parent company, Fortress Biotech Inc., highlighted the potential of targeting GABAA, an approach under investigation in various quarters.
Luye Pharma Group has received marketing approval from China’s NMPA for the triple monoamine reuptake inhibitor Ruoxinlin (toludesvenlafaxine hydrochloride) to treat patients with major depressive disorder, a condition that “has become one of the most prevalent mental disorders in China, causing a heavy burden on patients, their families and the entire society,” said Luye President Yang Rongbing.
“Epilepsy is really a classical neurological disorder,” Lars Pinborg told the audience at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) annual conference on Sunday. “Or is it?” Pinborg, of Rigshospitalet's The Neuroscience Center in Denmark, was chairing a session dedicated to an alternative hypothesis, summed up in the session title: “Is epilepsy a psychiatric disorder?”
Relmada Therapeutics Inc. is scratching its collective chin as it sifts through data from the failed phase III Reliance III study of REL-1017 (esmethadone) in treating major depressive disorder (MDD). A higher-than-expected placebo response, however, prompted the company to label the study’s results as “paradoxical.”
Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Hansoh Biomedical Co. Ltd. have synthesized orexin OX2 receptor antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of major depression and insomnia.
Magnus Medical Inc. received FDA clearance for a neuromodulation platform to treat major depressive disorder (MDD) in adults for whom antidepressant medication has been ineffective.
