EpiCept drug trial shows ‘encouraging results’
-
- February
- 7
EpiCept Corp., a developer of topical drugs, reported today that a drug it is developing to alleviate pain suffered by diabetes patients performed well enough in tests for the Eastview-based company to call for further clinical trials.
EpiCept said patients who used its NP-1 cream instead of a placebo in a Phase II trial were more likely to experience relief from nerve damage caused by diabetes, known as diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
Sixty percent of patients taking the drug saw at least a 30 percent reduction in pain, EpiCept said, compared to 48 percent of placebo patients who experienced the same reduction in pain.
The encouraging outcome means NP-1 is likely to move to Phase III trials.
EpiCept is also testing NP-1 in two other trials, a late-stage study to see how the cream helps in relieving pain in patients who have suffered nerve damage after chemotherapy and a mid-stage trial to see how the drug performs on patients who suffer residual pain from shingles.









