TUR-002 is an intranasal formulation of ketamine for the treatment of suicidality
Zug, Switzerland, January 13, 2016 – Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative treatments for serious diseases and conditions, today announced receipt of a No Objection Letter from Health Canada to initiate the first clinical study for its TUR-002 program.
Ketamine, which has been extensively used as an intravenous anesthetic for many years, has been also reported to be effective as a rapid treatment for a variety of mood and anxiety disorders. These studies suggest that ketamine infusions can also rapidly reduce suicidal ideations. Turing is developing TUR-002, an intranasal formulation of ketamine for the treatment of suicidality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there were over 40,000 deaths by suicide and close to 500,000 patients treated for self-inflicted injuries in 2013 in the United States.
Turing plans to complete the phase I trials for TUR-002 in the first half of 2016 in Canada and initiate pivotal registration trials in the middle of 2016 in North America and Europe.
Michael E. Thase, MD, professor of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania said, "Suicide is one of the world's great public health problems and acute suicidality is a life-threatening crisis that affect thousands of people every day. Effective treatments that rapidly address suicidality are urgently needed." Eliseo Salinas, MD, Turing's President of Research and Development added, "I am very impressed with the progress Turing's R&D team has made in a very short time frame advancing intranasal Ketamine for the treatment of suicidality."
About Turing
Turing Pharmaceuticals AG is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company with offices in Zug, Switzerland and New York, New York. Turing focuses on developing and commercializing innovative treatments for serious diseases and conditions across a broad range of therapeutic areas, for which there are currently limited or no treatment options. Products being developed include intranasal ketamine for a variety of mood and anxiety disorders and TUR-004 for epileptic encephalopathies. Daraprim® (pyrimethamine) for the treatment of toxoplasmosis in combination with sulfonamide and Vecamyl® (mecamylamine HCl tablets) for hypertension are Turing's first commercial products.
For more, visit www.turingpharma.com.
Turing Pharmaceuticals AG
Edward Painter
Head of Communications and Investor Relations
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646.356.5617
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