NGF Agonists and Antagonists

NGF Agonists and Antagonists

Competitor Analysis

The present Competitive Intelligence Report about Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) Agonists & Antagonists provides a competitor evaluation in the field of investigational antibodies, small molecules and gene therapeutic approaches for treatment of chronic pain or Alzheimer's disease and peripheral neuropathies as of May 2009.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is the prototypical member of the family of neurotrophin growth factors that are involved in the growth and survival of nervous tissue. NGF and its receptors, the tyrosine-kinase receptor TrkA and the p75 NTR receptor are responsible for the survival and maintenance of specific subsets of peripheral neurons and basal forebrain cholinergic nuclei during development and maturation.

In the adult peripheral nervous system, NGF signaling plays a key role in pain transduction mechanisms. Furthermore, NGF levels are increased in inflammatory processes and administration of exogenous NGF leads to hyperalgesia, hypersensitivity to thermal stimulation and muscular pain. NGF plays a critical role in hyperalgesia and allodynia as established in animal models. Antagonists of NGF were able to prevent and even to treat neuropathic and inflammatory pain. Clinical proof of concept (PoC) has been demonstrated for antibodies against NGF. The most advanced molecule is currently being investigated in a broad phase III program of osteoarthritis pain with several phase II PoC studies in a broader range of pain conditions. Further anti-NGF antibodies are in the pipeline and small molecule inhibitors are emerging.

NGF is not only the target for antagonists but may also be used as an agonist to treat Alzheimer's disease. NGF stimulates the function and prevents the death of an important cell type in the brain that degenerates in Alzheimer's disease (the ""cholinergic neuron""). In animal studies, NGF improved memory and prevents degeneration of cells resulting from injury, overproduction of amyloid, or aging. Several clinical studies were performed or are ongoing with intracerebral administration of the protein, the DNA of NGF or cells expressing NGF to evaluate its therapeutic role in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Availability of small molecules increasing the availability of NGF in the peripheral nervous system allowed investigation of its effects on peripheral neuropathies in ongoing clinical trials.

The report includes a compilation of current active projects in research and development of nerve growth factor (NGF) targeting small molecules, antibodies, cells and DNA. In addition, the report lists company-specific R&D pipelines of NGF targeting molecules. Competitor projects are listed in a tabular format providing information on:

• Drug Codes,
• Target / Mechanism of Action,
• Class of Compound,
• Company,
• Product Category,
• Indication,
• R&D Stage and
• additional comments with a hyperlink leading to the source of information.

Contents

• NGF Agonists
• NGF Antagonists
• Corporate NGF Agonist & Antagonist R&D Pipelines
  • BioXell
  • Ceregene
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • Krenitsky Pharmaceuticals
  • LayLine Genomics
  • Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma
  • NeuroSearch
  • NsGene
  • PainCeptor
  • PanGenetics
  • Pfizer
  • ReNeuron
  • Sanofi-Aventis
  • Scil Proteins
  • Takeda Pharmaceutical

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