RNS Number : 7471W
Minster Pharmaceuticals PLC
16 June 2008
For immediate release 16 June 2008
MINSTER PHARMACEUTICALS PLC
("Minster" or "the Company")
Phase IIb TEMPUS study fully enrolled
Minster Pharmaceuticals plc (AIM: MPM), the drug development company specialising in
neurological and psychiatric disorders, is pleased
to announce that its Phase IIb TEMPUS study of tonabersat in the preventive treatment of
migraine is now fully enrolled.
The results of this 500 patient study, which is taking place at specialist and general
centres in the US and Canada, are expected in the
first quarter of 2009. The primary endpoint of the study, which is placebo controlled, is the
reduction in the number of migraine attacks
that patients suffer during the last eight weeks of a 20 week treatment period.
The TEMPUS study has attracted the attention of many of the key opinion leaders in
migraine in North America, where the requirement for
an effective, preventive treatment for migraine is increasingly recognised. The study's
principal investigator is Professor Richard Lipton,
Professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Tonabersat, Minster's lead compound, was described in September last year as "the most
promising late-stage migraine specific preventive
therapy" in an independent report by Datamonitor.
The latest developments in the understanding of the mode of action of tonabersat will be
presented next week to the plenary session of
the American Headache Society's 50th Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.
Paul Sharpe, Minster Pharmaceuticals' Chief Executive, said: "We are delighted to have
reached full enrolment in our TEMPUS study of
tonabersat in the prevention of migraine. We now look forward to the completion of the study
and to the release of the study results, which
we expect in the first quarter of 2009.
"We believe that around 30 per cent of migraineurs would benefit from an effective and
well tolerated treatment for the prevention of
migraine, representing a very substantial commercial market."
For further information:
Minster Pharmaceuticals plc Tel: +44 (0) 1799 506623
Paul Sharpe, Chief Executive Officer
Robert Aubrey, Chief Financial Officer
Buchanan Communications Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
Mark Court / Rebecca Skye Dietrich / Catherine
Breen
Nomura Code Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 1200
Richard Potts
Gerard Harper
Notes for editors:
About Minster Pharmaceuticals plc
Minster Pharmaceuticals is a drug development company focussed on neurological and
psychiatric disorders. Its principal pipeline assets
are tonabersat, under development in the preventive treatment of migraine, and sabcomeline in
schizophrenia. Worldwide rights to both
compounds were acquired from GlaxoSmithKline and the compounds benefit from comprehensive
safety tolerance data as a result of investment by
GSK.
Tonabersat is the leading compound in an exciting new class of selective drugs designated
as neuronal gap junction blockers and offers
the potential to prevent the onset of migraine as a preferred alternative to acute treatment.Sabcomeline, a muscarinic partial agonist, has
potential in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia.
Minster's near-term focus is on the development and commercialisation of its current
pipeline. Its medium term strategy is to leverage
the anticipated cashflows from the current pipeline by in-licensing further compounds with the
ultimate objective of creating a substantial
and highly efficient drug development enterprise focussed on the central nervous system.
Minster joined the AIM market in February 2005 and trades under the symbol MPM. For
further information please visit
www.minsterpharma.com .
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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