Avigen, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, announced that two preclinical reports with glial attenuator AV411 (ibudilast) support the pharmacological effect of the drug on enhancing the pain-killing effect of opioids while reducing the addiction properties of commonly used opioids such as morphine and oxycodone. Both studies are published online in Brain Behaviour and Immunity.

"These promising studies support our ongoing clinical trials of AV411 for the treatment of chronic pain and addiction withdrawal, as well as the need and opportunity for a non-opioid alternative in this large market. An estimated 33 million people, or 15 per cent of the adult US population, have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons in their lifetime, a practice that can lead to abuse and dependence. Current addiction treatment with other opioids is inadequate, and the risk is palpable. There is a significant unmet need here, and AV411, with its strong safety and tolerability record supported by this promising new data, can help meet this need," commented Kenneth Chahine, Avigen's president and chief executive officer.

"In collaboration with cutting edge researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, we have uncovered the potential for AV411 to not only improve the analgesic utility of opioids, but to also reduce the propensity for this class to produce dependence," explained Kirk Johnson, vice president of Research and Development at Avigen. "In addition, the most recently disclosed neurochemical data support AV411's potential as a new pharmacotherapy for other drug addictions."

"The investigators have provided further evidence that glial cells play an important role in modulating brain activity, and that AV411 may attenuate opioid dependence through its ability to suppress glial cell function," said David McCann, acting director of the Division of Pharmacotherapies and Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). "These findings drive our continuing support for the phase 2a clinical trial with AV411 in opioid withdrawal at Columbia University. In addition, the recent studies have provided evidence that AV411 affects an important brain chemical, dopamine, which appears to mediate the rewarding effects of many different drugs of abuse. This raises the possibility that beyond treating opioid withdrawal symptoms, AV411 may have utility in treating cocaine, methamphetamine and other drug addiction disorders. I hope we can facilitate further AV411 development by supporting studies with an expanded focus. There is truly an unmet medical need for new analgesic approaches with less addiction potential as well as new medications to treat drug addiction disorders."

The AV411 portfolio, which includes proprietary analogs, represents novel, first-in-class, non-opioid drugs for the treatment of several large pain and drug addiction indications.

Avigen is a biopharmaceutical company that has focused on identifying and developing differentiated products to treat patients with serious neurological and other disorders.