Clinical stage company, Relmada Therapeutics into developing novel therapies for treating Centralnervous system diseases obtained global rights to develop and market dextromethadone (REL-1017), a novel N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, for the treatment of neurological conditions associated with CNS. Development is set to be initiated in 2018.
Sergio Traversa, CEO of Relmada Therapeutics said “The clinically proven mechanism of action of dextromethadone shows potential benefits in the treatment of a wide range of CNS diseases and conditions, including rare diseases that represent significant areas of unmet need in healthcare.”
NMDA receptor is a therapeutic drug target for many CNS disorders and is a predominant molecular device for controlling synaptic plasticity and memory function, allowing for the transfer of electro-chemical signals between neurons. Based on this clinically proven mechanism of action, several NMDA receptor antagonists (chemicals that block overactive NMDA receptor), including dextromethadone are considered as therapeutic agents for CNS disorder.
Relmada announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation for dextromethadone for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder in April 2017, eyeing advancement of the development program to a Phase 2a randomized, double-blind, placebo- controlled study along with undertaking to initiate pre-clinical program to detect additional neurological indications for dextromethadone.