Merck Serono Gains Right to Multiple Sclerosis Drug (a Guest Post)

jsh — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:42:47 +0000

This guest blog post was provided by Healthline.com as part of their SEO Marketing effort.

Merck Serono, a pharmaceutical company, has come to terms with the bankrupt company, Peptimmune, for exclusive rights to the PI-2301, an experimental multiple sclerosis drug. PI-2301 has already completed Phase I trials and is entering Phase II which is clinical trials. Peptimmune, the previous PI-2301 owners, went bankrupt earlier this year.

Merck Serono, a German company, plans to investigate the drugs potential to treat other autoimmune diseases. Merck Serono previously had a failed oral multiple sclerosis drug called cladribine, which never made it to market. The head of global development, Susan Herbert said, “We are pleased to strengthen our development pipeline with the PI-2301 compound, which could play a valuable role in the treatment of this debilitating disease.”

Merck Serono already makes a drug to treat multiple sclerosis called Rebif. The now bankrupt Peptimmune, had two additional MS drug candidates, which never made it to Phase II trails. ARX 424, is a long acting interferon and the other drug ATX-MS-1467 is an immune-tolerizing agent. The PI-2301, has already been approved last year in Australia and Russia, but is facing issues in other European countries.

Before it was bought by Merck Serono, PI-2301, was a second generation drug by Teva’s Copaxone. In 2014 Merck Serono is due to lose all patent protection, and generic companies can start making their own PI-2301.

The disabling disorder, Multiple sclerosis, is a chronic, inflammatory condition of the central nervous system. Multiple sclerosis affects the brain and spinal cord and mistakenly attacks and damages healthy body tissue. PI-2301, is designed to improve the regulatory response of the immune system, which is one of the main causes of multiple sclerosis. The drug works to control the pathogenic autoimmune response which would prevent some of the myelin sheath from mistakenly being destroyed.

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This guest blog post was written by Chipper Nicodemus, an SEO Assistant at Healthline.com. Healthline Networks has extended its health search technology services to include specialized health tools that address the patient pathway – from symptoms to treatments, to doctors, to medications.

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Merck Serono Gains Right to Multiple Sclerosis Drug (a Guest Post)