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NSI-189

nsi-189

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#1 hadora

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Posted 29 August 2012 - 08:41 PM


I'm really surprised no one on this forum talked about this new compound
it is currently in trial for Anxiety, Depression, Alzheimer, Memory loss, Stroke, CTE

Neuralstem, Inc., manufacturers of a potential new treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), have recently announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved the advance to Phase 1b in the ongoing clinical trial to test its neuroregenerative compound, NSI-189.



NSA-189 is a proprietary new chemical entity that stimulates new neuron growth in the hippocampus, an area of the brain believed to be contributory in MDD and other conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Phase 1b of the clinical trial is to test the safety and tolerability of the drug in depressed patients.

Karl Johe, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman of Neuralstem’s Board of Directors, said, “We are pleased to be approved to begin testing NSI-189 in patients who suffer from depression. Loss of hippocampal volume is a known characteristic in depressed patients. NSI-189 stimulates neurogenesis and increases hippocampal volume in healthy adult mice, at the same time reversing behavioural symptoms in mouse depression models, so it could address depression at the source.”

Maurizio Fava, MD, Slater Family Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, is a leading researcher into MDD and helped to design the Neuralstem trial, added, “It is exciting to see a new class of drugs that potentially offers a novel and different approach to this disease moving into patients.”

Neuralstem’s technology enabled the creation of neural stem cell lines from areas of the human CNS, including the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory and the generation of new neurons. From this, Neuralstem has created virtually unlimited amounts of mature human neurons and glia in laboratory dishes which can be used to mimic the natural brain environment to test the drug’s effects.

NSI-189 is the lead compound in Neuralstem’s neuroregenerative small molecule drug platform, which the company plans to develop into orally administered drugs for MDD and other psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD and Alzheimer’s disease. In previous tests, NSI-189 significantly improved behavioural responses associated with depression. In humans, it may reverse the human hippocampal atrophy seen in MDD and other disorders, reversing their symptoms.

The NSI-189/MDD trial is a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, multiple-dose escalating trial evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effect of NSI-189 in the treatment of MDD. Phase 1a tested escalating doses of single administration in healthy patients. Phase 1b will test the safety of escalating doses for 28 daily administrations in 24 depressed patients, and will take approximately 6 months to complete.


The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are in full support of Neuralstem and their program.

http://depressionhea...ssive-disorder/
http://www.neuralste...-in-development


What do you think about it? future blockbuster ? a drug that increase the size of the hippocampus rather than increasing existing neurotransmitters is a revolution :)

The Pill That Could Cure Depression by Growing Your Brain


If you are depressed, or schizophrenic or have Alzheimer's, scientists say you probably have a shrunken hippocampus. The good news: a drug that just entered human trials promises to re-grow that part of the brain.
It's an entirely new approach to treating clinical depression, which is the first of several diseases scientists at biotech company Neuralstem are hoping to address with their experimental oral drug. Most antidepressants work on brain chemistry, tweaking levels of neurotransmitters including serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. This is the first drug that aims to re-grow patients' atrophied brains.
Dr. Karl Johe, Neuralstem's chief scientific officer, believes that depression is a three-headed beast that affects neurotransmitter levels, neurons, and hippocampus size. And he says their new drug could address all three. He also hopes the drug will reverse the disease to the point that patients could permanently go off the drug.
"If we can show by MRI that we've increased hippocampus volume and at the same time reversed depression symptoms for six months after patients have stopped taking the drug, then we'll have a cure."
That a too-small hippocampus causes depression and other diseases is still technically a theory in humans (though it's been demonstrated in rats and chimps). So if the drug grows hippocampus volume and thereby treats depression, we'll not only have a new treatment, but the study results would be proof that a shriveled hippocampus is at least in part the culprit.
The scientists showed first that the drug worked in the lab: They started with dishes of neural stem cells and added several compounds they thought might instigate growth. Seven showed promise, but they could only afford to develop one, so they chose NSI-189. They then tested it in mice; after taking the drug, the rodents had larger hippocampi.
Thirty-five healthy humans have now taken the drug with no ill effects, so the FDA gave the company the OK to start testing in depressed patients. They'll give the pill to 18 volunteers (six will get a placebo) in three groups, each receiving a progressively larger dose, each over 28 days. They expect this phase, which is mainly to make sure the drugs is safe, to take about six months. If all goes well they hope to proceed to phase two clinical trials later this year, which will test to determine whether the drug is both safe and effective. (After that, a final phase three trial to confirm safety and efficacy will remain before the company can market the drug.)
I couldn't help thinking about those healthy test subjects who took the drug. Will they get super brain powers? The healthy mice that received the drug did grow extra large hippocampi, the seahorse-shaped part of the brain involved with both short and longterm memory and spatial navigation. Johe isn't ruling out the possibility of souped-up brains:
"It's an exciting possibility and we'll definitely be looking out for it."

http://gizmodo.com/5...wing-your-brain

Edited by hadora, 29 August 2012 - 08:40 PM.

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#2 Daruman

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Posted 29 August 2012 - 09:41 PM

I am skeptical. I would have to see an unbiased report done by a reputable institution. Those are secondary sources and of course always over hype these things.

I don't think anyone is talking about it because there is too little research and isn't available for purchase.
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#3 Heraclitean

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Posted 29 August 2012 - 10:21 PM

I am skeptical. I would have to see an unbiased report done by a reputable institution. Those are secondary sources and of course always over hype these things.

I don't think anyone is talking about it because there is too little research and isn't available for purchase.


It may be the case that there is (as of yet) too little research. However, I know a lot of compounds avidly consumed and talked about on these boards which don't have much research either (Noopept..*cough*.. even though I think it is great stuff), and that doesn't seem to be a hindrance if the marketing is good.

Furthermore, I think that it makes sense that drugs that "regrow" the hippocampus or other areas of the nervous system will be one of the avenues for the development of future (and more effective) anti-depressants and anti-all-sorts-of-brain-damaging-conditions. The fact that there seems to be a reputable company advancing through the FDA pipeline with a drug that does just that, is interesting, particularly for the more theoretically-oriented (As opposed to those that are just interested in something which will work for them now, and nothing more). Of course, the drug may, and likely will, never make it to market because the FDA is too stringent. Nevertheless, as I said, I think that it is the wave of the future and I would like to see some learned debate on it. Unfortunately, I cannot contribute much, because I am a layman in pharmacology, biology and the like, but I enjoy reading the reasonings of those who do know.

That there may be hype is inevitable, true... but it doesn't seem like a complete scam if you ask me, unless they are making serious things up and posting it on the web for everybody to see, and for the FDA (and DARPA (?!), that in itself says something!) to crack down on them.

Thanks for bringing this to the attention of the forum, hadora.

Edited by Heraclitean, 29 August 2012 - 10:23 PM.

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#4 Psionic

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Posted 30 August 2012 - 08:55 AM

I see a problem that it takes too many steps to final product. There has been numerous promising compounds developed 5, 10 and maybe 20 years back and no further research is done on them. It take so many years of research to get just only to clinical trials and then other years to final production and finally, if it really works, there may be really little interest of Pharmaketing companies. I think a lot of people are now aware that healing for many years is for them economically more efficient than one short-term therapy which regrows your brain and makes you independent on them.
For example CNB-001 from curcumin showed similar capabilities on hippocampus. Maybe theres rising number of people who are interested in trying out these compounds if they show at least minimally safe profile/nearly no neurotoxicity etc.. and dont want to wait till it go prescription only after 10 years or so..
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#5 Kahnetic

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 02:02 AM

Interesting. I hope to see more research conducted.

#6 ScienceGuy

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 08:31 AM

I see a problem that it takes too many steps to final product. There has been numerous promising compounds developed 5, 10 and maybe 20 years back and no further research is done on them. It take so many years of research to get just only to clinical trials and then other years to final production and finally, if it really works, there may be really little interest of Pharmaketing companies. I think a lot of people are now aware that healing for many years is for them economically more efficient than one short-term therapy which regrows your brain and makes you independent on them.
For example CNB-001 from curcumin showed similar capabilities on hippocampus. Maybe theres rising number of people who are interested in trying out these compounds if they show at least minimally safe profile/nearly no neurotoxicity etc.. and dont want to wait till it go prescription only after 10 years or so..


The problem is that many of those steps are vitally important, such as comprehensive TOXICITY STUDIES... Each and every time I read about an interesting novel new substance reporting stimulation of growth of new brain cells the question springs to mind surrounding what exactly is its potential for stimulating the growth of other undesirable types of cells, such as NEOPLASTIC CELLS and therein potentially leading to manifestation of CANCER(S)... Hence, exclusively confirmation that no direct NEUROTOXICITY exists might not be enough to know for sure whether or not said substance is wholly safe to consume, since CARCINOGENICITY does not necessarily directly corrolate ;)

However, by utilising a bit of common sense in this regard one can make the judgement call with regards to whether or not there currently exists enough research to demonstrate said safety without necessarly having to wait for the duration of the entire process leading to final product. :)

I for one will be very interested to follow the research being conducted on this compound... after all, who doesn't want to grow their HIPPOCAMPUS?! :-D

Edited by ScienceGuy, 31 August 2012 - 08:37 AM.

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#7 hadora

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Posted 01 September 2012 - 08:21 AM


  • I can't give you brains but I can give you a diploma.

Posted: September 14th, 2011

"I can't give you brains but I can give you a diploma."

(the wizard of Oz to the scarecrow)

A wry but all to often prescient comment on how we measure intelligence. When my children were young, a wonderful animated movie was released called the Secret of NIMH. The main characters were rats that had been the subjects of an experimental drug. They became very smart and escaped from an NIH lab. Two films this summer; Limitless and Rise of the Planet of the Apes are different takes on a similar theme. Both films are about drugs that make those who take them smarter. Not just a little smarter, but orders of magnitude smarter.

In Limitless, there is a bit of information, though sketchily given, about the drug clearly implicating neurogenesis and neural stem cells in the adult brain. In Rise, we are briefly exposed to the term neurogenesis. Neuralstem of course is a company with the first of a new class of neurogenic drugs (NSI-189) in human trials. So it is no surprise that I have been fascinated by this new focus in the entertainment culture. Clearly, the idea of such a drug is ready for prime time, but is the science?

To answer that question we must first address the question Mr. Baum so artfully skewers; what is intelligence? If we can’t agree on what it is, how do we know if we have increased it? There are of course a number of ways to measure (what society calls) intelligence, but we are after what is “behind” the test scores. We are after what powers intelligence.

Societies often analogize concepts using the dominant technology of the time. For example in Isaac Newton’s time the intricate mechanics of a clock was the most advanced technology. Everything from gravity and the workings of the Universe to the workings of the human body was thought of in terms of the winding and unwinding of a clock. We were all part of one giant machine, and each movement was the inevitable result of some cog or wheel turning to make it so. When Darwin’s theory of evolution became widely accepted, “survival of the fittest” seeped into how society explained everything from countries making war against each other to social policy. When biology exploded on the scene, people even began to speak of corporations and other institutions as “organic” things and today we still speak of “pruning” and growth in institutions as though they are living things.

The dominant technology of our time is the computer. So not surprisingly we tend to think of memory as a process of storage and retrieval; and we tend now to think of intelligence as processing power. Certainly memory is a key component of intelligence in every day life. And the ability to retrieve information equates to “higher” scores on most tests. But we should not confuse the process of storage and retrieval with processing power. The ability to learn, new things, is perhaps the true measure of intelligence?

Once, people thought that “larger” brains must mean more intelligence. When it became clear that was not the case a theory came into vogue that we only use a tiny percent of our brain, equally untrue. While different regions of the brain have some sort of “primary” responsibility for different types of thought/activity, it is becoming clear that there is a tremendous interconnectivity in the brain, and a complexity involved in “thought” that we have barely glimpsed.

In both movies, ‘intelligence” is defined by the ability to learn. To learn a lot, to learn complex things, and to learn them quickly. The “mechanism” that allows for this increase in intelligence can be thought of as an increase in processing power. Under this view, intelligence, or processing power, is linked most closely with the density and number of synaptic connections in the brain; the “wires” in your brain. Neurogenesis can be thought of as the ability to repair and increase the number of synaptic connections in the brain. That’s what the mysterious drugs of the movies are said to do. Interestingly enough, that is just what we believe NSI-189 does. Both in vitro and in vivo (in dishes and in animals) we have seen a robust effect.

We are just now concluding our first in-human healthy volunteer safety trial of NS-189 to treat major depression. Later this fall we expect to start a trial in actual depressed patients. There is good evidence that endogenous neural stem cells in the adult hippocampus are killed off in depressed patients, and the hippocampus actually shrinks over time because of that. The theory is to see if repairing and/or rebuilding the hippocampus can help depressed patients. The animal studies are encouraging, but the animals don’t really have human depression. If we are right, this will be a unique approach to treating depression by actually repairing the structural damage which may be causing it…..but will it make people smarter?

That is a very different question. We are currently looking into whether or not our drug can increase cognitive scores in an animal model of Alzheimer’s disease. If the evidence is there (and there is good reason to believe it will be) then in about a year we may also be ready to start a phase two trial for some form of cognitive impairment indication. It could be Alzheimer’s or it could be some simpler form of dementia. Then, we will have to decide exactly what “smarter” really does mean, so that we can answer the question posed at the movies this summer. In the meantime, if you haven’t seen the movies, they are entertaining in their way, and summer is almost over..



http://www.neuralste...e-you-a-diploma

#8 Psionic

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Posted 01 September 2012 - 06:29 PM

nice find and next summer is almost over :) It looks like they started trial this June (http://www.prnewswir...-160229405.html). I wonder if we can contact neuralstem directly and ask for more details on their progress..

BTW I would love to know what a typical foreigner person should do in order to participate in a Trial like this, how are they being approved? Are there any international pacts that regulate this? (you know where I am heading)

Edited by Psionic, 01 September 2012 - 06:39 PM.


#9 Psionic

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Posted 01 September 2012 - 06:48 PM

"We are getting ready to start a Ib trial in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) with our first-in-class neuroregenerative drug (NSI-189). Behind that we have a portfolio of neurogenic compounds discovered in the same program and covered by the same patents that we believe may be applicable to a host of neurological and psychiatric diseases. All are enabled by the unique window on the human brain that our neural stem cells provide in vitro (in dishes) as a drug discovery tool. Our success to date, in even identifying and patenting this new class of drugs, is a testament to the power of these new tools. We are committed to partnering worldwide development with a large Pharma, so yes, they will eventually end up with the drugs. And yes, the enormous cost of worldwide clinical trials required to get approval for the first truly new drug to treat MDD in over a decade have yet to be incurred (hence our early partnering strategy). But even with that, if we are right, we will have spent less than 5% of the type of numbers thrown around in the Forbes article. This is the model that may ultimately bring down the cost of new drug development: innovation outsourced to the biotech industry funded by very high risk capital and executed by people who never want to hear what the odds are." http://www.neuralste...ell-me-the-odds

#10 sparkk51

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 12:56 AM

I would also love to be in a trial!

#11 Kahnetic

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 03:16 PM

I wonder if it stimulates neurogenesis faster than popular grey-matter-growing supplements such as Lions Mane.

#12 greekpsychonaut

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 07:26 PM

This is really interesting. Man a killer combo would be this and Coluracetam...

Makes me drool just thinking about it.

#13 hadora

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 11:15 PM

I would also love to be in a trial!



they are recruiting

http://clinicaltrial...term=nsi&rank=1

too bad i d'ont live in the US... :sad:

#14 hadora

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 11:19 PM

I wonder if it stimulates neurogenesis faster than popular grey-matter-growing supplements such as Lions Mane.


are you joking ? :)
NSI 189 blow them all ;)

#15 hadora

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 11:26 PM

nice find and next summer is almost over :) It looks like they started trial this June (http://www.prnewswir...-160229405.html). I wonder if we can contact neuralstem directly and ask for more details on their progress..

BTW I would love to know what a typical foreigner person should do in order to participate in a Trial like this, how are they being approved? Are there any international pacts that regulate this? (you know where I am heading)


I think the trial is only open to US citizen.

what i would LOVE to see is the chemical formula of these compounds NSI 189 NSI 160 NSI 158...
Unfortunately they are keeping them secret ! lol


This is really interesting. Man a killer combo would be this and Coluracetam...

Makes me drool just thinking about it.



Racetam + NSI =
Posted Image

Edited by hadora, 02 September 2012 - 11:32 PM.

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#16 Heraclitean

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 12:04 AM

LOL ^

#17 greekpsychonaut

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 06:45 AM

I may synthesize my own Coluracetam as it's been impossible to source, so far.

#18 summertimex

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 07:25 AM

does coluracetam enhance color more than aniracetam? it seems cool like the stablon of acetylcholinergics.

what exactly is NSI-189?... a synthetic neurotrophic agent?

Edited by gen6k, 03 September 2012 - 07:29 AM.

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#19 greekpsychonaut

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 03:46 PM

does coluracetam enhance color more than aniracetam? it seems cool like the stablon of acetylcholinergics.

what exactly is NSI-189?... a synthetic neurotrophic agent?

I have been trying for months to find Coluracetam with no luck, so I couldn't tell you, sorry.

#20 Galantamine

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 03:47 PM

Karl Johe, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman of Neuralstem’s Board of Directors, said, “We are pleased to be approved to begin testing NSI-189 in patients who suffer from depression. Loss of hippocampal volume is a known characteristic in depressed patients. NSI-189 stimulates neurogenesis and increases hippocampal volume in healthy adult mice, at the same time reversing behavioural symptoms in mouse depression models, so it could address depression at the source.”


Looks like a lot of hype. Most antidepressants work through this mechanism.
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#21 Heraclitean

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 05:53 PM

Karl Johe, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman of Neuralstem’s Board of Directors, said, “We are pleased to be approved to begin testing NSI-189 in patients who suffer from depression. Loss of hippocampal volume is a known characteristic in depressed patients. NSI-189 stimulates neurogenesis and increases hippocampal volume in healthy adult mice, at the same time reversing behavioural symptoms in mouse depression models, so it could address depression at the source.”


Looks like a lot of hype. Most antidepressants work through this mechanism.


Although hype is almost inevitable when companies (especially small ones involved in very high risk ventures) make press releases which favour their position vis a vis their investors and the public at large, to say that it looks like a lot of hype seems premature. Even though hippocampal neurogenesis has been postulated, not without evidence, to be one of, if not THE main mechanism of action whereby antidepressants exert their desired effect, we still do not know:

A) the capacity this compound has to regenerate neurons, or in other words its potency, vis a vis currently extant antidepressants, and

B) how it compares with said antidepressants in terms of side effects, which SSRI's are particularly profligate in.

I believe that until we know (at least) these two points, we cannot conclude whether it is "pure" (i.e. a lot of) hype, or whether this has potential to be a promising new avenue of exploration. Your "MD instincts" (or maybe something else I'm not seeing) might be telling you that it is a false lead, but for now I'll await further results before dismissing it.

#22 Galantamine

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 10:03 PM

Even though hippocampal neurogenesis has been postulated, not without evidence, to be one of, if not THE main mechanism of action whereby antidepressants exert their desired effect, we still do not know:

A) the capacity this compound has to regenerate neurons, or in other words its potency, vis a vis currently extant antidepressants, and

B) how it compares with said antidepressants in terms of side effects, which SSRI's are particularly profligate in.


The press releases posted in this thread portray the idea of hippocampal neuroregeneration as novel, and innovative, whereas it is not. It's been known for the last 20 years that antidepressants work in this capacity. They did not mention anything about a side effect comparison with other antidepressants, and it makes no difference if they did. It's nice that they are starting clinical trials, but somewhat dubious that all of their research has been in-house, and without peer review.
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#23 Heraclitean

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 10:19 PM

Even though hippocampal neurogenesis has been postulated, not without evidence, to be one of, if not THE main mechanism of action whereby antidepressants exert their desired effect, we still do not know:

A) the capacity this compound has to regenerate neurons, or in other words its potency, vis a vis currently extant antidepressants, and

B) how it compares with said antidepressants in terms of side effects, which SSRI's are particularly profligate in.


The press releases posted in this thread portray the idea of hippocampal neuroregeneration as novel, and innovative, whereas it is not. It's been known for the last 20 years that antidepressants work in this capacity. They did not mention anything about a side effect comparison with other antidepressants, and it makes no difference if they did. It's nice that they are starting clinical trials, but somewhat dubious that all of their research has been in-house, and without peer review.


When they talk of "novel", they may be referring to the MOA of the drug, not to the actual neuroregenerative effects, or perhaps to the fact that it has been designed specifically to induce neuroregeneration in the hippocampus, whereas antidepressants had that effect "accidentaly", i.e. they were not designed for that purpose.

At any rate, and to avoid debating semantics which in my opinion is very tangential to the topic at hand, I will say that I agree that there is hype, but as I said before, this is to be expected, and if you look at the press releases of almost all AIM-listed companies you'll see a degree of (unwarranted?) optimism which would make Leibniz cry. This in itself, therefore, doesn't seem indicative of a case of pure hot air, it's normal.

As to peer reviewing, that is a topic which I don't know much about, in terms of at what point during the process of clinical study it is expected. I suppose, if you are an MD, that you will be familiar with this. Should their studies already have been peer reviewed, even though they are still in the first (1b) stages of research? I am asking genuinely, not rhetorically.

#24 Galantamine

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 10:37 PM

When they talk of "novel", they may be referring to the MOA of the drug,


You sound like a "Neuralstem" apologist. (kidding)

Speaking of MOA, I perused the clinical trials related to this compound and found this:

"A Phase 1B, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multiple-Dose Escalation Study Evaluating the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics (PK), and Pharmacodynamic (PD) Effect of NSI-189 Phosphate in Depression Patient Subjects"

And although a human pharmacodynamic study is impractical in and of itself, I also noticed that pharmacodynamics are not even studied as an end-outcome (which are safety and kinetics). So I guess they just listed pharmacodynamics for fun (not that they could even study the dynamics of the compound without pre & post brain biopsies anyway).

But since I don't want to get sued by this company, I will keep my mind open to possibilities that this is anything other then hype.
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#25 hadora

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 10:47 PM

Even though hippocampal neurogenesis has been postulated, not without evidence, to be one of, if not THE main mechanism of action whereby antidepressants exert their desired effect, we still do not know:

A) the capacity this compound has to regenerate neurons, or in other words its potency, vis a vis currently extant antidepressants, and

B) how it compares with said antidepressants in terms of side effects, which SSRI's are particularly profligate in.


The press releases posted in this thread portray the idea of hippocampal neuroregeneration as novel, and innovative, whereas it is not. It's been known for the last 20 years that antidepressants work in this capacity. They did not mention anything about a side effect comparison with other antidepressants, and it makes no difference if they did. It's nice that they are starting clinical trials, but somewhat dubious that all of their research has been in-house, and without peer review.



They didn't claim that they are the one who discovered that hippocampus neuroregeneration can relieve depression,
they say that they discovered a new class of drug that the PRINCIPAL function is to increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus and protect brain cells from apoptosis

Antidepressants were not designed to increase neurogenesis, it was discovered later that they did.

Maybe i'm naive but if their research were dubious they would not have received 2,4millions from DARPA
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#26 Galantamine

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 11:11 PM

They didn't claim that they are the one who discovered that hippocampus neuroregeneration can relieve depression,
they say that they discovered a new class of drug that the PRINCIPAL function is to increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus and protect brain cells from apoptosis

Antidepressants were not designed to increase neurogenesis, it was discovered later that they did.

Maybe i'm naive but if their research were dubious they would not have received 2,4millions from DARPA


You need to look up the definition of "novelty." (It doesn't mean discovery)

And it is entirely irrelevant what antidepressants were originally designed for, or serendipitously discovered to do: that is how they work. End of story.

This compound works in the same manner, and who is to say it's not principally an SSRI? It's not been studied for that purpose (afaik), so we'll never know. And, I seriously doubt we'll see a head to head effiacy comparison. Furthermore, even if the compound induces neurogenesis/increase in hippocampal volume/whatever other end point, the fact that they are studying the depressed brain is a red herring. Depressed people have temporary/reversible hippocampal atrophy that can respond favorably to multiple methods of therapy (hypnosis, talk therapy, sleep deprivation, many pharmacological modalities, et cetra).

If you give a non-depressed person venlafaxine and intrathecally measure their neurohormones, BDNF will be dramatically increased, and no changes in brain volume will be observed, although a decrement in LTP is likely.
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#27 sparkk51

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Posted 04 September 2012 - 12:28 AM

Do I need to discontinue my current AD? It says that they accept currently medicated patients.
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#28 CIMN

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Posted 04 September 2012 - 12:52 AM

what is this NSI-189? i wish i could see molecular structure.


Im confused, it is a SSRI?

#29 hadora

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Posted 04 September 2012 - 09:20 AM

Do I need to discontinue my current AD? It says that they accept currently medicated patients.


Maybe or Maybe not, call and ask them ;)

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#30 hadora

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Posted 04 September 2012 - 09:37 AM

what is this NSI-189? i wish i could see molecular structure.


Im confused, it is a SSRI?


Posted Image
It is not a SSRI

The present invention relates, to compounds that promote neurogenesis in vivo, More particularly, the present invention is related to classes of compound structures that are shown to be particularly effective in promoting neurogenesis including compounds of the type, fused imidazoles, aminopyrimidines, nicotinamides, aminomethyl phenoxypiperidines and aryloxypiperidines, These compounds are shown to promote neurogenesis by proliferation and/or differentiation of human hippocampus multipotent stem cells and/or progenitor cells and neuronal progenitors. Moreonver the present invention relates to these angents as therapeutics for prevention and treatment of neurological diseases in mammals and as reagents for detecting neurogenesis and proliferation.



http://www.google.co...nsi 189&f=false

Edited by hadora, 04 September 2012 - 09:38 AM.






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