Predix receives patent on 5-HT receptor antagonists, related treatment of serotonin disorders

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, May 3 - Predix Pharmaceuticals, which recently announced a definitive agreement to merge with EPIX Pharmaceuticals, announced Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued to Predix patent number 7,030,240 B2 for "piperidinylamino-thieno(2,3-d)pyridimine compounds."

This patent includes claims to the composition of matter, synthesis and use of 5-HT receptor antagonists in the treatment, modulation or prevention of physiological conditions associated with serotonin action, such as in treating vascular disorders like angina, pulmonary hypertension and migraine, according to a company news release.

Predix said its novel 5-HT2B antagonist, PRX-08066, is covered under this patent.

Officials said they plan to further clinical development of PRX-08066 into phase 2a trials later this year.

Discovered and designed using its proprietary structure-based drug discovery technology and approach, Predix said it is developing PRX-08066 for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension.

PRX-08066 was designed to provide both symptomatic improvement - through selective dilation of diseased pulmonary blood vessels - and also to slow disease progression by inhibiting the thickening of the pulmonary artery vessels.

Predix said it believes that PRX-08066 is the first 5-HT2B selective antagonist under development for pulmonary hypertension.

Predix has completed three phase 1 clinical trials of PRX-08066 in healthy volunteers, including a phase 1b trial in athletes conditioned to exercise at high altitudes with pulmonary hypertension that has been induced by low oxygen breathing conditions.

Predix said it also is exploring other potential indications targeting the 5-HT2B receptor, such as the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and other diseases in which this receptor may play a key role.

Predix is a Lexington, Mass., pharmaceutical company focused on development of novel, highly selective, small-molecule drugs that target G-Protein Coupled Receptors and ion channels.

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