Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc announced the grant of five new international patents for its Ampakine technology, which patents are exclusively licensed to Cortex from the University of California.

"With a total of 36 patents issued and three notices of allowance, Cortex continues to build the largest patent estate in the area of AMPA receptor modulation," said Roger G. Stoll, Chairman, President and CEO of Cortex. "These new patents provide Cortex and our partners with extended protection for the structure of our Ampakine molecules that potentially can be used for improving a number of central nervous system diseases and disorders."

The recently issued patents include New Zealand patent No. 255097 and Italian patent No. IT 0651746 entitled, "Drugs that Enhance Synaptic Responses Mediated by AMPA Receptors." The co-inventors of these patents are Gary Lynch, Ph.D., a Professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and co-founder of Cortex and Gary Rogers, Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Research at Cortex.

A patent entitled, "Benzofurazan Compounds that Enhance AMPA Receptor Activity" recently issued in Russia under patent No. 99119488 and in China under patent No. 98802541.8. The inventors are Dr. Gary Rogers and Dr. Christopher Marrs, a former employee of the company.

A patent entitled, "Treatment of Schizophrenia with Ampakines and Neuroleptics" recently issued in Australia under patent No. 745641. The inventors are Drs. Steven A. Johnson and Gary Rogers of Cortex and Gary Lynch of UCI.