Broomfield, CO, January 9, 2012 – Ariel Pharmaceuticals, a private, development-stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of products for indications in acute central nervous system (CNS) diseases and trauma, announced today it has signed a cooperative research & development agreement (CRADA) with the United States Army Medical Research and Material Command.
AP-1100 is a new biochemical therapy in hypertonic formulation designed to prevent damage to the major organs that typically occurs when severe blood loss and hemorrhagic shock exceeds the body’s ability to compensate. The agreement provides for extensive preclinical research and will establish both an appropriate formulation of AP-1100 and proper drug delivery conditions for Phase I clinical trials. This research will be conducted in the United States Army’s Ft. Sam Houston research facilities in San Antonio, TX.
“It is through collaborations like this CRADA that Ariel will be able to develop novel and innovative products,” said Steve Orndorff, president and CEO of Ariel.
This will be complementary to the ongoing basic research of AP-1100 being conducted at the University of Minnesota in Duluth and the University of Minnesota Medical Center in St. Paul, supported by approximately $4M of federal government support.
“These studies are very exciting because they continue to provide momentum behind the work and investment already done at the University of Minnesota,” commented Chad Beyer, Ph.D., MBA, vice president of research and development at Ariel.
AP-1100 provides B-hydroxybutyrate, a source of cellular energy, which generates more ATP than other substrates and requires less oxygen to metabolize than glucose.
Previous studies in animal models have shown that AP-1100 stabilizes organs, reduces oxidative stress, reperfusion injury and the buildup of toxic levels of lactic acid while sparing ATP energy production.