The National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH/NINDS) has given $1,594,553 in grant funding to Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the ongoing clinical trial of its TrimestaTM drug (oral estriol) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The company recently received a grant of $409,426 from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) also in support of the Trimesta clinical trial. This is in addition to earlier grants for the trial, including $5 million from the NMSS in partnership with the NMSS’s Southern California Chapter, with support from the National Institutes of Health, and $860,440 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The announced grant is expected to support the Trimesta trial to its completion.
Rhonda Voskuhl, M.D., Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program for the UCLA Department of Neurology, is leading the clinical trial, and spoke on the goal of the trial. “The goal of this clinical trial is to demonstrate a reduction in the rate of relapses in female MS patients with a treatment regimen of oral Trimesta added to the standard of care Copaxone. MS is a debilitating disease, therefore, slowing the progression of the disease could potentially allow these patients to achieve a more normal quality of life.”
Adeona Chairman and CEO, James Kuo, M.D., M.B.A., commented on the importance of the various grants received, and on possible future work with Dr. Voskuhl. “We are very pleased that the Trimesta MS clinical trial has been awarded over $8 million in grant funding by organizations such as the NIH, NMSS and other third party groups. This support demonstrates independent scientific review of the clinical work being conducted by Dr. Voskuhl and provides funding for our MS program that is non-dilutive to our shareholders. We are also excited to be exploring new opportunities with Dr. Voskuhl that could further expand our MS clinical program beyond the current trial.”
Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Adeona is a pharmaceutical company developing medicines for the treatment of serious central nervous system diseases. The company intends to license product candidates demonstrating a certain level of clinical efficacy, and develop them to the point of significant commercial collaboration.
For additional information, visit the company’s website at www.AdeonaPharma.com
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