This is from the University of Melbourne website.....their news...

This is from the University of Melbourne website.....their news section.

http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_2483.html

Human trials for pain relief drugs from sea
[ UniNews Vol. 14, No. 11 27 June - 11 July 2005 ]


A cone snail toxin with great potential for easing pain, discovered by University of Melbourne scientists, could provide an improved treatment for neuropathic pain associated with diabetes.

The scientists first discovered the toxin, called ACV1, in 2003 while studying the toxins produced in the venom of Conus victoriae, a marine cone snail found in tropical waters off the coast of Australia.

Clinical trials of ACV1 in humans are now underway following successful results in preclinical trials of the toxin by Melbourne based company Metabolic Pharmaceuticals Limited.

The clinical trials will first test the safety of the toxin in normal males, and later its effectiveness in treating the neuropathic pain associated with diabetes.

Isolating and characterising ACV1 was a collaborative achievement beginning with discovery of the genes by Biochemistry and Molecular Biology scientist Associate Professor Ken Gayler and research students Mr David Sandall and Mr David Keays. Associate Professor Bruce Livett (now Bio21 Institute-based) and Dr John Down (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) contributed key pharmacological and chemical expertise, and Associate Professor Zeinab Khalil of the University’s National Ageing Research Institute and research student Ms Narmatha Satkunanathan provided physiological and pain assessment.

Associate Professor Livett (right, with cone snail shells) says the drug has potential for treating pain in a number of conditions such as multiple sclerosis, shingles and sciatica.

“ACV1 has been shown to be effective in treating pain in several experimental animal models of human pain syndromes, including post-surgical and neuropathic pain,” he says.

“In addition, it has the unique property that it appears to accelerate the rate of recovery from a nerve injury.”

He says the great potential of ACV1 is that eliminating neuropathic pain is where it works best.

Neuropathic pain is pain generated inside the body (arising in the nervous system) as opposed to pain which comes from outside, for example, from a burn.

Associate Professor Livett says neuropathic pain is the most difficult form to treat and typically responds poorly to conventional painkillers such as morphine or aspirin. Other treatments have also been found to be largely ineffective


MBP have phase 2 results due for mid - year.

If these results are positive, as the University of Melbourne, think they might.....MBP would again be on the cusp of owning a likely blockbuster drug. University of Melbourne talking up the drug and say it may be the best in the marketplace.

If true,.......share price would again move up towards $3 over time.

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The battle to treat nerve pain heats up
Multi-billion dollar market to show rapid growth; Pfizer, Lilly, others fight for share; Endo takes a hit.
By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer
October 23 2006: 9:29 AM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The market for painkillers for the shooting pain associated with cancer, diabetes and shingles is expected to soar over the next decade, driven by a largely untapped patient pool of millions of Americans.

The $1.7 billion market for neuropathic pain is expected to triple to $5.5 billion by 2015, according to estimates from Datamonitor, a stock research firm.

Sales of neuropathic painkillers, while dwarfed by the markets for drugs for heart disease, cancer and other medicines, are important as big drugmakers seek to squeeze every last dollar of earnings from the billions they spend developing new drugs.

Pain is plentiful
Many neuropathic patients don't realize the source of their pain is damaged nerves and they're not receiving proper treatment, industry analysts say, fueling the potential for rapid growth in that business.

"The patients are there, and [neuropathic pain] is under-treated and under-diagnosed," said Ben Greener, senior analyst for Datamonitor. Greener said that Pfizer gave a boost to its launch of Lyrica late last year by educating physicians on neuropathic pain.