There's life after Namenda

The fortunes of Neurobiological Technologies Inc. have long been tied to its Namenda memantine, which is marketed for Alzheimer's disease (AD) by Forest Laboratories Inc. NTII receives a 1% royalty on those sales, but suffered a blow last year when Namenda failed a Phase III trial in diabetic neuropathic pain - an indication that was to bring a 13% royalty.

FRX (New York, N.Y.) is continuing to pursue the neuropathic pain indication in another Phase II trial. But NTII's Xerecept now is taking center stage. Late last month, the company began the first of two Phase III trials of the synthetic corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). By substituting Xerecept for steroids as a treatment for edema in brain tumor patients, NTII says it can achieve a dual purpose, eliminating not only side effects associated with steroids but their detrimental effects on tumor therapy...