Arena Pharmaceuticals' APD356 Selected as Winner of CONNECT's Most Innovative New Product Award in the Biotech R&D Category
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that their lead compound for the treatment of obesity, APD356, won San Diego based CONNECT's Most Innovative New Product ("MIP") Award in the biotechnology Research and Development category. APD356 is a selective agonist of 5-HT2C serotonin receptors, which are located in the hypothalamus, an area of the brain that plays an important role in regulating food intake and metabolism. In a Phase 2a clinical trial, APD356 demonstrated a highly statistically significant (p=.0002) average weight loss of 2.9 pounds in patients taking the 15 mg dose of APD356 versus 0.9 pounds for the placebo group, and was generally well tolerated at all doses investigated. Top-line data from Arena's Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating weight loss in 469 obese patients taking APD356 over 12 weeks are expected soon.
APD356 is a selective agonist of 5-HT2C serotonin receptors, which are located in the hypothalamus, an area of the brain that plays an important role in regulating food intake and metabolism. Discovered by Arena, APD356 is intended to selectively stimulate the 5-HT2C receptor and has approximately 100-fold selectivity in vitro for the 5-HT2C receptor relative to the 5-HT2B receptor. It is hypothesized that activation of the 5-HT2B receptor is associated with the cardiac valvulopathy observed with non-selective serotonergic agents. In addition, APD356 has approximately 15-fold selectivity in vitro for the 5-HT2C receptor versus the 5-HT2A receptor. Arena believes that the 5-HT2A receptor contributes to the potential central nervous system adverse effects associated with non-selective serotonergic agents.
The MIP Awards is an annual competition held by CONNECT, a San Diego based program linking high-technology and life science entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success.
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