SAN CARLOS, Calif., March 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmacoFore, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation abuse-resistant prescription drugs, announced that Lynn R. Webster, M.D., FACPM, FASAM, Co-Founder and Medical Director of Lifetree Clinical Research, will introduce the Company’s novel technology during the 27th Annual American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) Meeting.
Dr. Webster’s presentation, titled “New Opioid Formulations and Delivery Systems,” will feature PharmacoFore’s Bio-Activated Molecular Delivery (also referred to as Bio-MD) and MPARtechnologies on Saturday, March 26, 2011, at 3:00 p.m. EDT at the Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.
“PharmacoFore’s new opioid drug technology may offer the medical community a truly revolutionary approach to safer opioid prescribing,” said Dr. Webster, a world leader in pain management and prescription drug abuse. “The new delivery system may prevent individuals from overdosing with multiple pills while allowing prescribers to determine the dose that is most appropriate for the patient.”
According to Dr. Steven Passik, Professor of Psychiatry and Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, “We have two public health crises the crisis of pain and the crisis of prescription drug abuse, and we need a balanced approach that doesn’t address one at the expense of the other. PharmacoFore’s technology has the potential to reduce barriers to effective pain management while offering an unprecedented level of resistance to all common routes of abuse.”
PharmacoFore has created a novel Bio-Activated Molecular Delivery technology designed to effectively deter prescription drug abuse at a molecular level. This technology does not involve (1) the reformulation of existing opioid drugs in physical matrices that are easily circumvented by simple extraction methods; or (2) adding aversive agents or opioid antagonists which may expose patients to additional risks. The Company’s opioid Bio-MD systems are designed to release clinically effective opioid drugs only when exposed to the correct physiologic conditions (i.e., when orally ingested). PharmacoFore’s complementary MPAR technology provides multi-pill abuse resistance taking away the incentive to abuse with multiple pills, including self-escalating the dose, and protecting from oral overdose. This novel approach to opioid therapy greatly reduces the opportunities for abuse while maintaining, unaltered, the opioid’s potent analgesic effects.
About Lynn Webster, M.D., FACPM, FASAM
Dr. Lynn Webster, co-founder and medical director of Lifetree Clinical Research and co-founder of LifeSource, a non-profit foundation, is board certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine and is also certified in addiction medicine. He is dedicated to treating patients in pain while simultaneously working to minimize the potential for abuse and addiction. Dr. Webster is currently on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the National Pain Foundation. Dr. Webster earned his doctorate of medicine from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and completed his residency in the University of Utah Medical Center’s Department of Anesthesiology.
About Steven Passik, Ph.D.
Dr. Passik is a clinical psychologist whose areas of expertise include the general psychological aspects of cancer including palliative care, and symptom management with an emphasis on pain, depression, nausea and fatigue. His research interests include examining pain medication usage among cancer patients; assessing abnormal drug usage among cancer and HIV+ patients; and developing psychosocial interventions for cancer patients. Dr. Passik is a Professor of Psychiatry and Anesthesiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is also a member of the American Psychological Association, International Psycho-Oncology Society and American Society of Psychiatric Oncology/AIDS. Additionally, Dr. Passik has written extensively on the interface of pain management and addiction.
About PharmacoFore, Inc.
PharmacoFore, Inc., is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on creating novel medicines to improve upon the therapeutic utility of existing drugs, enhance patient care, and prevent the misuse, abuse, and overdose of prescription medications. The Company’s novel Bio-Activated Molecular Delivery system (also referred to as Bio-MD), in contrast to current approaches, effectively addresses abuse via injection and inhalation, as well as abuse via the more common oral route (e.g., chewing pills prior to ingestion). PharmacoFore will announce the results of its Bio-MD human proof-of-concept study in 2Q'11.
PharmacoFore has also created a complementary technology, MPAR, uniquely applicable to drugs with its Bio-MDs’ mechanism of activation, which provides multi-pill abuse-resistance that is, oral overdose protection. When several doses of MPAR-protected drugs are co-ingested, the systemic exposure of the opioid drug is dramatically limited, without the use of opioid antagonists, such as naloxone, which may expose a patient to additional risks. Ultimately, PharmacoFore’s technology will (1) provide patients with the best treatment option for moderate-to-severe pain; (2) address the worldwide under-treatment of pain; (3) offer a comprehensive solution to the rapidly growing global issue of prescription drug abuse, and; (4) for the first time, provide protection against oral routes of abuse.
About Prescription Drug Abuse
Prescription drug abuse and addiction are major burdens to American society, resulting in significant costs, illness and deaths. More than 48 million Americans abuse prescription drugs in their lifetimes; in 2005, such abuse cost the government $467.7 billion.
According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined, with chronic pain being the most common cause of long-term disability. The U.S. economic impact of acute and chronic pain exceeds $100 billion per year.
Forward Looking Statements and Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, statements relating to expectations, goals, plans, objectives and future events. These statements are based on the current estimates and assumptions of our management as of the date of this press release and are subject to risks, uncertainties, changes in circumstances, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to revise or update information herein to reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new information becomes available.
PharmacoFore, Inc. Contact:
A. Gregory Sturmer
VP, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
650-331-4010
gsturmer@pfore.com
www.pharamacorefore.com
Media Contacts:
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
212-827-0020
Tamara Bright
tbright@tiberend.com
Farrell Denby
fdenby@tiberend.com
SOURCE PharmacoFore, Inc.
