Icagen Reports Progress In Identifying Selective Sodium Channel Inhibitors

Icagen and Pfizer have jointly presented the data related to their collaboration focused on certain sodium channels for the treatment of pain and related conditions at the Neuroscience 2009 Annual Meeting sponsored by the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) in Chicago, Illinois.

Reportedly, the sodium channel Nav1.8 is one of three sodium channel pain targets that form the basis of the collaboration. There are extensive preclinical data demonstrating a role for Nav1.8 in modulating pain. However, to date only limited examples of subtype-selective small molecule modulators of Nav1.8 have been described.

Icagen has said that these orally bioavailable, use-dependent compounds have impact nerve firing, efficacious in models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain and have acceptable pharmacokinetic and drug-like properties. Overall these data provide further evidence for the feasibility of identifying selective Nav1.8 compounds as potential novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of pain.

Douglas Krafte, VP of biology and pharmacology at Icagen, said: “While sodium channel blockers have been used to treat pain for many years, currently available agents are not subtype-selective and therefore are limited by serious side effects. In collaboration with Pfizer, compounds which selectively inhibit one particular subtype of voltage-gated sodium channels, Nav1.8, have been characterized. By blocking only one subtype of these channels it should be possible to identify compounds which demonstrate efficacy in pain with an improved side effect profile as compared with existing therapies. We look forward to continuing this research program with Pfizer as we seek to identify novel clinical compounds for the treatment of pain and related disorders.”