News
- 09/01/10
Afferent Pharmaceuticals Presents Data Supporting Use of P2X3 Antagonists in Reducing Bone Cancer Pain
<<click here for release>> - 08/25/10
Afferent Pharmaceuticals Announces Data Supporting Potential Utility of Proprietary P2X3 Antagonists in Regulating Bladder Reflexes
<<click here for release>> - 1/26/10
Afferent Pharmaceuticals Names Bruce G. McCarthy, M.D., as CEO
<<click here for release>> - 12/16/09
Roche Licenses First-in-Class Treatments for Chronic Pain to Afferent Pharmaceuticals; Afferent Secures $23 Million in Series A Financing
<<click here for release>>
Therapeutic Approach
More than 270 million people worldwide suffer from chronic pain. While product reformulations or combinations of established molecules have led to new product introductions, there has been little recent success in identifying novel mechanisms for successfully managing and treating pain. Existing therapeutic approaches such as opioids, antiepileptic drugs and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including COX-2 inhibitors, have documented drawbacks in inadequately addressing patient needs and presenting safety, efficacy, tolerability and addiction concerns.
Afferent is focused on blocking pain at its source
Treating pain by inhibiting P2X3 heralds an exciting new approach to pain management, and Afferent’s program marks the first in a new class of drugs poised to meet the significant unmet needs in pain management. P2X3 receptor subunits are expressed specifically in so-called C-fiber afferent neurons in multiple tissues and organ systems, including joints and hollow organs, suggesting a high degree of specificity to the nociceptive system (the system in the human body that perceives pain). As a result, there is a lower likelihood of adverse effects in the brain or cardiovascular tissues ⎯ effects which have been limiting factors for many existing pain therapeutics. In the periphery, ATP (the factor that triggers P2X3 receptor activation) can be released from various cells as a result of tissue inflammation, injury or stress, as well as visceral organ distension, and stimulate these local nociceptors. The highly selective distribution of P2X3 and P2X2/3 receptors within the nociceptive system has aroused a formidable level of investigation and many reports that clarify the potential role of ATP as a pain mediator. In addition, P2X3 is expressed pre-synaptically at central terminals of C-fiber afferent neurons, where ATP further potentiates nociceptive neurotransmission. P2X receptor-mediated afferent activation has been implicated in inflammatory, visceral and neuropathic pain states, as well as in migraine, itch and cancer pain.
Preclinical and clinical data on the AF-219 program support its potential as a compelling first-in-class, orally delivered product, and with it Afferent expects to initiate Phase 2 studies in multiple indications in 2010.