Boehringer Ingelheim : Pramipexole clinical trial programme in Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) reveals new significant results

26 August 2008 – Results from a large pramipexole trial programme in Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) conducted by Boehringer Ingelheim were presented at the 12th European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) Annual Congress held in Madrid, Spain, from 23 to 26 August. The results of two large Phase IV trials showed that while pramipexole significantly improves the characteristic symptoms of RLS among patients with moderate to severe RLS, it also demonstrated significant beneficial effects on associated symptoms such as limb pain and health-related quality of life, including associated mood disturbance. Limb pain and mood disturbance are important secondary ailments commonly experienced by RLS patients, and these studies are the first in which an approved RLS treatment has demonstrated benefits addressing these symptoms in a clinical study in RLS patients... Boehringer Ingelheim's Press Release - Boehringer Ingelheim's Press Release -

GlaxoSmithKline and Actelion : exclusive collaboration to realise the full potential of almorexant in sleep disorders and beyond

Monday 14 July 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline and Actelion to potentially co-develop and co-commercialise other orexin receptor antagonists - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Actelion Ltd (SWX: ATLN) announced that they have entered into an exclusive worldwide collaboration (excluding Japan) for Actelion’s almorexant, an orexin receptor antagonist in phase III development with first-in-class potential as a treatment for primary insomnia.

Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will receive exclusive worldwide rights to co-develop and co-commercialise almorexant. Actelion will continue to lead the ongoing development programme and potential registration for almorexant in the first indication, primary insomnia, with GSK contributing 40 per cent of the costs. Almorexant will also be studied in other orexin-related disorders and all costs related to these programmes will be shared equally... GlaxoSmithKline's Press Release - Actelion's Press Release -

SRI International : Research Team Identifies Rare Sleep-Activated Neurons in the Cerebral Cortex

July 21, 2008 - Findings May Have Important Implications for Treatment of Sleep Disorders and for Understanding Mood and Memory – SRI International announced that a research team has identified the first example of neurons that are activated in the cerebral cortex during slow wave sleep (SWS). The research, led by Dmitry Gerashchenko and Thomas Kilduff, will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in a paper titled Identification of a Population of Sleep-Active Cerebral Cortex Neurons. The paper is available via the PNAS Web site starting July 21.

The presence of slow waves in the electroencephalogram (EEG) is the distinctive “signature” of SWS and a type of activity that does not normally occur during wakefulness. For years, researchers have hypothesized that ‘slow-wave activity’ (SWA) is correlated with the recuperative properties of sleep and the brain’s ability to learn, in part, because brain cells are relatively quiet during this time. While populations of neurons activated during sleep have been identified in the forebrain and the hypothalamus, up until this point, neurons in the cortex have been seen as dormant. These new results show that a group of rare neurons are active, rather than at rest, during SWS... SRI International's Press Release -