BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

Repurposing naratriptan

October 11, 2012 7:00 AM UTC

Japanese researchers have shown in mice that GlaxoSmithKline plc's marketed migraine drug Amerge naratriptan could be repurposed to treat spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.1 The pharma is not saying if it will pursue the new indication for the serotonin (5-HT1D) receptor agonist, but the academics who did the work are planning an investigator-led Phase II trial.

Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) involves degeneration of lower motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem of males. The degeneration causes progressive weakness and atrophy of facial, limb and bulbar muscles. The disease is caused by CAG glutamine repeats within the androgen receptor (AR) gene, which causes pathogenic AR accumulation in the nucleus of motor neurons...