NZ brain drug for trials

Auckland biotechnology company Neuren Pharmaceuticals will start phase II patient trials of its brain injury drug Glypromate within two weeks.

Thirty people, with an average age of 65, undergoing heart surgery at Auckland City, Mercy Ascot, Waikato, Wakefield and Australia's Alfred hospital will be recruited for the safety trial.

More than 400,000 patients undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery in the US every year and up to 70 per cent show some loss of brain function at the time of discharge. Neuren says Glypromate occurs naturally in a "normal" brain and, when injected intravenously, can protect brain tissue from injury.

David Clarke, chief executive of the Australian-listed company, says the trial is aimed at confirming safety and the pharmacokinetic profile of Glypromate.

Patients will be given the drug intravenously for a four-hour period, starting towards the end of surgery.

The trial is expected to be completed by the end of the year and a marketable drug by 2010.