BioTuesdays

IntelGenx Montelukast VersaFilm featured in peer-reviewed journal

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IntelGenx (TSXV:IGX; OTCQX:IGXT) announced that a peer-reviewed paper entitled, “2018 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures,” published in the March 2018 issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, highlights one of the significant unmet medical needs that may be addressed by IntelGenx’s Montelukast VersaFilm product candidate.

Earlier this year, IntelGenx initiated a Phase 2a proof-of-concept Montelukast VersaFilm clinical trial in AD patients, following clearance by Health Canada. The primary objectives will be to evaluate the safety, feasibility, tolerability, and efficacy of Montelukast buccal film following daily dosing for 26 weeks.

Montelukast VersaFilm has the potential to offer distinct advantages over tablets for AD patients, including the avoidance and minimization of first-pass-effects, ease of administration, improved API bioavailability, lower dosing and toxicity, better acceptability and improved compliance.

As highlighted in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia article, neuronal damage to the brain can impair basic bodily functions, such as swallowing, as AD progresses.

“Damage to areas of the brain that control swallowing makes it difficult to eat and drink,” according to the article. “This can result in individuals swallowing food into the trachea (windpipe) instead of the esophagus (food pipe). Food particles may be deposited in the lungs and cause lung infection. This type of infection is called aspiration pneumonia, and it is a contributing cause of death among many individuals with Alzheimer’s.”

The article can be accessed here.
https://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article/S1552-5260(18)30041-4/pdf

Dr. Horst Zerbe, president and CEO of IntelGenx, said a recent paper published in the journal, Immunity & Aging, noted that montelukast has been shown to rejuvenate aged brains in an animal model and suggested that this leukotriene receptor antagonist may have a similar effect in humans.

“The disease modifying potential of montelukast, combined with the fact that buccal film does not need to be swallowed like a tablet, leads us to believe that it may become a game-changer in treating AD patients,” he added.