Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.SEEK, a UK based privately-owned drug-discovery group, is developing a new drug containing theobromine, an ingredient naturally present in cocoa and chocolate, for the treatment of persistent cough.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Theobromine, a metabolite of caffeine, has been used as a vasodilator (a blood vessel widener), a diuretic (urination aid) and heart stimulant.
Theobromine has been shown to inhibit the inappropriate firing of the vagus nerve, which is a key feature of persistent cough.
This peripheral mechanism of action differentiates theobromine from codeine and other centrally acting agents, and lessens its lower central nervous system side effects.
Human trial research in Korea has shown that theobromine has none of the side effects associated with standard drug treatments for persistent cough.
Following consultation with a European Medicines Agency, the single Phase III trial of theobromine (BC1036) is expected to begin in the UK in the first half of 2011.
The drug, which is entering the final stages of human clinical trials, has the potential to be on the market in Europe within two years from trial commencement, subject to receiving final marketing authorization.
Hull Cough Clinic head Alyn Morice said thousands of people across the UK suffer from persistent cough, and due to the drawbacks of current opioid drugs such as codeine, they are in desperate need of a non-opioid treatment with a drastically improved side effect profile for patients.
SEEK Consumer Health CEO Manfred Scheske said he is very excited to announce the progression for the late-stage development of BC1036, which has the potential to dramatically impact the treatment of persistent cough and could greatly benefit the quality of life of persistent cough sufferers.