Specialty pharmaceutical company Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp., has reported positive data from an animal pharmacokinetic (PK) study of its novel sublingual (SL) formulation of TNX-102, the company’s very low dose cyclobenzaprine.

“TONIX is developing TNX-102 as a therapy to help people afflicted with FM get the relief they need, by improving sleep quality,” said Seth Lederman, MD, chief executive officer of TONIX. Lederman added, “With better sleep quality, patients report a reduction in their chronic pain. Sleep quantity and sleep quality are different. The clinical data support the idea that improving sleep quality leads to significant alleviation of FM symptoms. We believe that improving sleep quality allows the natural restorative properties of sleep to work on reducing pain. TONIX is pursuing this goal through our novel formulations of cyclobenzaprine.”

FM is a common and complex central nervous system condition characterized by chronic diffuse musculoskeletal pain, increased pain sensitivity at multiple tender points, fatigue, abnormal pain processing, and disturbed sleep, and often features psychological stress. Despite the fact that most FM patients suffer from poor sleep, there are no medications indicated for FM that work by improving sleep. Research has shown that the restorative sleep of FM patients is disrupted by alarm signals called CAP A2 and A3. In a phase II a trial, TONIX demonstrated that bedtime administration of very low dose cyclobenzaprine improves core FM symptoms including pain, tenderness, fatigue, and depression, and also demonstrated that improvements in key symptoms correlate with increased nights of restorative sleep. These results were published in the December 2011 issue of the Journal of Rheumatology.

The new research reported by TONIX today demonstrates that the Company’s SL TNX-102 (2.4 mg) tablet provides faster delivery and more efficient absorption of cyclobenzaprine as compared to the currently available pills that deliver cyclobenzaprine to the stomach. In fact, TONIX discovered that cyclobenzaprine given in a novel SL formulation is absorbed as well as intravenous cyclobenzaprine. Cyclobenzaprine is the active ingredient in two prescription muscle relaxants that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are marketed by other companies.

The Company recently announced that it received clearance from Health Canada to initiate a pharmacokinetic/bioavailability study of an oral solution formulation of its SL TNX-102 tablet in comparison to a marketed oral cyclobenzaprine tablet (5 mg) and to intravenous cyclobenzaprine (2.4 mg) in healthy adults in Canada.

“We are pleased to announce the discovery that our SL TNX-102 formulation can deliver cyclobenzaprine rapidly and efficiently into the bloodstream and that it is also rapidly cleared. The existing literature taught away from this discovery and led scientists to believe that the cyclobenzaprine molecule itself had an inherently long plasma half-life that could not be shortened. We believe the improved pharmacokinetic profile of SL TNX-102 will enable it to provide several significant advantages over commercial oral formulations of cyclobenzaprine, including targeting the sleeping brain with greater dose intensity when taken at bedtime and lower rates of side-effects such as next-day grogginess or hangover. The PK profile of SL TNX-102 appears well suited to allow the natural restorative processes of sleep to relieve FM pain.” said Dr Lederman. “We have filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office for patents on SL TNX-102, which we believe is an important advance for FM patients that should ultimately reduce the use of addictive pain killers and sedatives,” continued Dr Lederman. “We look forward to executing on our clinical study plan toward the commercialization of what we anticipate will be an effective, well-tolerated, and differentiated treatment option for FM. We remain on track to enroll patients into the first of two pivotal efficacy studies of TNX-102 in FM in the first quarter of 2013.”

Tonix also plans to explore the utility of proprietary, low dose formulations of cyclobenzaprine in a new treatment paradigm for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

TNX-102 is a bedtime medicine containing very low dose cyclobenzaprine (2.4 mg). Tonix is designing TNX-102 for faster and more efficient absorption relative to currently marketed cyclobenzaprine products. Tonix believes its SL formulation of TNX-102 administered at bedtime will provide more targeted sleep quality effects with less likelihood of side-effects than commercially available cyclobenzaprine preparations.