Neurogen commences human testing of obesity drug

The phase I trial is an evaluation in healthy overweight and obese subjects of the safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of single rising oral doses of NGD-4715. The study has a planned total enrollment of up to 84 male and female subjects.

“While the MCH1 mechanism has been a target of high interest in the pharmaceutical community, we believe most in the industry have encountered significant obstacles to advancing drug candidates into human studies,” stated William Koster, president and CEO.

Neurogen's obesity program is focused on blocking the melanin concentrating hormone receptor-1 (MCH1). Reported studies in rodents support MCH being an important mediator of caloric intake. Deletion of MCH or the MCH1 receptor gene resulted in lean animals, while over-production of MCH caused increased weight gain. The company's studies indicated that selectively blocking MCH1 was sufficient to achieve a significant reduction in food intake in a higher animal species.