FORT LEE, N.J., Sept. 26, 2005 -- Neurologix, Inc. (OTCBB:NRGX) today announced positive interim results of its landmark gene therapy clinical trial for patients with Parkinson's disease. Neurologix's 12-patient, dose-escalating Phase I trial is the world's first study to use a viral vector (the non-pathogenic adeno-associated virus, or AAV) for the treatment of an adult neurological disease. In the Neurologix-funded trial, the vector was injected into a specific target site in the brain in order to transfer a gene to treat Parkinson's disease. The gene encodes glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), an enzyme which synthesizes the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, (gamma)-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
Under the FDA-sanctioned trial protocol, patients with advanced Parkinson's disease received unilateral (one side of the brain) infusion of AAV-GAD via a hair-thin catheter into the subthalamic nucleus (STN), a deep brain structure known to function abnormally in Parkinson's patients. According to the interim findings, Neurologix's STN AAV-GAD treatment appears to be safe and well-tolerated in advanced Parkinson's disease, with no evidence of adverse effects or immunologic reaction related to the study treatment. Furthermore, patients in the trial, at one year, exhibited a statistically significant improvement (27%, p = .04) in motor function on the side of their body correlating to the treated part of the brain, as measured by the Unified Parkinson
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Contact: Justin Jackson
jjackson@burnsmc.com
212-213-0006
Burns McClellan
25-Sep-2005