Pain Therapeutics And King Pharmaceuticals Initiate Clinical Program Of A Second

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Pain Therapeutics And King Pharmaceuticals Initiate Clinical Program

Of A Second Abuse-Resistant Painkiller

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=48639

Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PTIE) and King Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(NYSE: KG) announced today the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial

to evaluate the effects of PTI-202 in humans. PTI-202 is a new drug

candidate in the companies' collaboration to develop abuse-resistant

opioid painkillers, a new category of drugs intended to prevent

prescription drug abuse.

In November 2005, Pain Therapeutics and King Pharmaceuticals

announced a broad strategic alliance to develop and commercialize

four proprietary lead drug candidates. All four drug candidates are

intended to be long-acting, abuse-resistant opioid painkillers. Two

of these drug candidates are now in clinical testing:

Drug Name: Remoxy

Description: Abuse-resistant oxycodone

Clinical Status: Phase III

Drug Name: PTI-202

Description: Abuse-resistant opioid (undisclosed)

Clinical Status: Phase I

PTI-202 is a long-acting opioid painkiller. Pain Therapeutics and

King Pharmaceuticals have not yet disclosed the active pharmaceutical

drug in PTI-202.

Pain Therapeutics recently submitted an Investigational New Drug

(IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for

PTI-202. FDA acceptance of this IND triggered the payment of a $5

million cash milestone from King Pharmaceuticals to Pain

Therapeutics.

About Remoxy

Remoxy is being developed as an abuse-resistant version of long-

acting oxycodone. Its Phase III program remains on-track with

previous guidance. Remoxy is intended to meet the needs of physicians

who appropriately prescribe opioid painkillers and who seek to

minimize risks of drug diversion, abuse or accidental patient misuse.

Remoxy has a sticky, high-viscosity mass that resists injection or

snorting. Published data show that freezing, crushing or submerging

Remoxy in high-proof alcohol for hours at a time releases just a

fraction of oxycodone compared to Oxycontin® at time points when

abusers presumably expect to get high. Pain Therapeutics and King

Pharmaceuticals believe these and other physical properties of Remoxy

may deter recreational abuse or accidental patient misuse of long

acting oxycodone.

About Pain Therapeutics, Inc.

Pain Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that develops novel

drugs. We have three investigational drug candidates in clinical

programs. Remoxy and PTI-202 are proprietary, abuse-resistant forms

of currently prescribed opioid drugs. Oxytrex is a novel, next-

generation painkiller that potentially offers less physical

dependence than currently marketed opioid painkillers. These three

drugs target different segments of the multi-billion dollar market to

treat severe chronic pain, such as persistent low-back pain or pain

due to advanced stages of osteoarthritis. The FDA has not yet

evaluated the merits, safety or efficacy of our drug candidates. For

more information, please consult our website:

http://www.paintrials.com.

About King Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

King, headquartered in Bristol, Tennessee, is a vertically integrated

branded pharmaceutical company. King, an S & P 500 Index company, seeks

to capitalize on opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry through

the development, including through in-licensing arrangements and

acquisitions, of novel branded prescription pharmaceutical products

in attractive markets and the strategic acquisition of branded

products that can benefit from focused promotion and marketing and

product life-cycle management.