Amarantus Bioscience Holdings Inc., a biotechnology company developing therapeutic and diagnostic product candidates in orphan indications and neurology, announced the issuance of Australian patent number 61/057,713 covering the use of eltoprazine for the treatment of various neurological and mental disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and several other mental disorders.

“This patent issuance covering eltoprazine for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease represents a significant addition to the international intellectual property position covering eltoprazine,” said Gerald E. Commissiong, president & CEO of Amarantus.

“As the company evaluates business development opportunities, we believe the continued expansion of the patent estate covering eltoprazine will be important.”

Eltoprazine is a small molecule 5HT1A/1B partial agonist in clinical development for the treatment of Parkinson's disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia (PD-LID), adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Alzheimer’s aggression. Eltoprazine has been evaluated in over 680 human subjects to date, and has a well-established safety profile. Eltoprazine was originally developed by Solvay Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of aggression. Upon Solvay's merger with Abbott Pharmaceuticals, the eltoprazine programme was out-licensed to PsychoGenics. PsychoGenics licensed eltoprazine to Amarantus following successful proof-of-concept trials in PD-LID and adult ADHD.