H3 Pharma starts trials of Alzheimer's drug

Canadian pharmaceutical development company H3 Pharma has startedclinical trials of ZT-1, a highly-potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor intended as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease, in 10 elderly men and women. H3 is developing the drug in tandem with Swiss company Debiopharm.

ZT-1 is derived from huperzine A, a compound from traditional Chinese medicinal preparations which was discovered at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. The drug is being developed in a sustained-release formulation, "thus answering the critical need for a long-acting drug that will still be effective in the elderly population where compliance is often an issue," said H3.

A second study will be initiated, providing safety is shown in the first assessment, that will be geared towards indirectly demonstrating the efficacy of ZT-1 in AD patients. The drug shares a mechanism of action with Pfizer/Eisai's Aricept (donepezil) and Novartis' Exelon (rivastigmine; Marketletters passim).