Solace Pharmaceuticals Initiates Phase IIa Trial of Glial Cell Modulator SLC022 in Post-Herpetic...( CAMBRIDGE Mass. Jan. 12 /- Solace...),Health

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Solace Pharmaceuticals, a private biotechnology company discovering and developing innovative treatments for pain, announced the initiation of a proof-of-concept clinical trial of SLC022 in patients with post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). PHN, a painful complication of shingles, affects approximately 200,000 people a year in the US alone. The clinical trial is an international, multi-center, placebo-controlled study that will examine the effectiveness of SLC022 in controlling pain associated with PHN. Solace anticipates having results from the study in the second half of 2009.

SLC022 is an orally administered glial cell modulator that has shown efficacy in well-established preclinical pain models. Glial cells represent an important new target for the treatment of chronic pain based on their active role in neuronal pain signaling.

"The initiation of this study is another important milestone for Solace in our drive to discover and develop innovative treatments for pain," said Dr. Eliot Forster, Solace's Chief Executive Officer. "Our confidence in SLC022 is underpinned by a large body of prior preclinical and clinical data generated during the compound's previous development in a non-pain indication. We believe these data lower the development risk and enhance the opportunity for a favorable clinical profile."

Solace's advancement of SLC022 caps a year of significant progress. In 2008, Solace expanded its glial cell modulator program by identifying next-generation, novel leads with attractive drug properties. The company made equally rapid progress in optimizing inhibitors of the enzyme GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1), a key target within the BH4 synthesis pathway, and in identifying additional promising drug targets.

Solace Pharmaceuticals also established a two-year collaboration with Professor Keith Channon, MD FRCP, of the Department of Cardio
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