Company Press Release
Parkinson's Disease Diagnostic Agent
Altropane Shown Successful in Phase II Study
Boston Life Sciences, Inc. Presents Final Analysis of Phase II
Clinical Trial
BOSTON--(BW HealthWire)--April 9, 1999-- Boston Life Sciences
(NASDAQ:BLSI - news) announced that the Company had fully analyzed the
results of its recently completed Phase II trial with Altropane® for the
early diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease (PD). Altropane, first tested by
Dr. Alan Fischman at Massachusetts General Hospital, is being developed
by BLSI to assist in the diagnosis of early PD.
In this multicenter study, 24 subjects with the clinical diagnosis of
early PD (Hoehn & Yahr scale less than 3) and 12 normal volunteers
(50-70 years of age) underwent Altropane-SPECT brain scans. Striatal
Binding Potential (SBP) for each patient was calculated. The SBP was
used as an indirect measure of the number of dopamine-producing neurons
present in the striatum of the brain. The early PD subjects exhibited a
markedly reduced SBP compared with the normal volunteers (0.71+/-0.38
vs. 1.10+/-0.71; p less than 0.007). An additional and potentially very
useful finding of the study was that a single ten-minute image could
accurately differentiate normal subjects from those with early PD. This
finding could markedly simplify the procedure for both the patient and
the physician, by replacing a longer duration dynamic scan with a simple
10 minute SPECT scan performed 30 minutes after Altropane injection.
``Based on our earlier reported interim analysis of the data, we were
anticipating these successful results from the completed trial,'' stated
Dr. Marc Lanser, chief scientific officer of BLSI. ``Nevertheless, we
are particularly gratified that the extremely favorable biologic
properties of Altropane may now facilitate a markedly simplified
scanning procedure. Our Phase III trial for Altropane, which to our
knowledge is the first Phase III trial for a PD radioimaging diagnostic
agent in the U.S., has incorporated this simplified scanning procedure
and diagnostic approach. This could make Altropane even easier to use
for both the patient and the clinician, and could potentially
translate into even greater market acceptance of the product, if
approved,'' added Dr. Lanser.
Contact:
Schwartz Communications
Media Contact
Jim Weinrebe
Jennifer Tansey
781-684-0770
or
Berkman Associates
Analyst Contact
Neil Berkman
310-277-5162
or
Boston Life Sciences, Inc.
Marc E. Lanser, MD
Chief Scientific Officer
617-425-0200
Copyright © 1999 Business Wire.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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