XenoPort, Inc. announced today that they have obtained positive results from their preliminary phase two trial of arbaclofen placarbil (XP19986) for the treatment of spasticity due to a spinal cord injury (SCI).
In today’s press release, XenoPort’s chief medical officer David A. Stamler said that ‘currently available medications for treating spasticity are often limited by their short duration of action and significant central nervous system side effects. The efficacy and tolerability of AP that were observed in this trial was encouraging, and we believe that AP offers the potential to address important medical needs for SCI patients.’
XenoPort is a biopharmaceutical company that is focused on the development of products that use the body’s ‘natural transport mechanisms’ to improve existing drugs.
XP19986 showed no compelling negative side effects and demonstrated ‘significant improvements’ in comparison with a placebo. It’s ‘designed to engage natural nutrient transport mechanisms found on intestinal cell membranes, thereby gaining efficient entrance into the bloodstream’, and XenoPort states that it could allow for just one or two needed doses in their future medial trials.
Muscle spasticity can cause many different conditions from an inability to walk to difficulty speaking due to stiffened muscles. If this drug withstands further trials, it may be able to benefit those who are suffering from spasticity caused by a spinal cord injury.
Image from here.