RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. Announces Publication of Preclinical Results Supporting the Use of Ampakines in the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury

Glen Rock, N.J., Oct. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCQB: RSPI) (“RespireRx” or the “Company”), a leader in the discovery and development of innovative and revolutionary treatments to combat diseases caused by disruption of neuronal signaling, is pleased to announce the publication by Dr. David Fuller and his colleagues of a review article entitled “Ampakines Stimulate Phrenic Motor Output after Cervical Spinal Cord Injury” in a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Experimental Neurology (https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1boWx_L5Mw1dO). In studies funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Fuller, a long-time RespireRx collaborator, describes the ability of CX717, one of the Company’s lead ampakines, to improve motor nerve function in an animal model of spinal cord injury. CX717 improved the electrical activity of the phrenic motor nerve when recorded below the site of the spinal injury, an effect which increased over the course of 8 weeks.

According to Dr. Fuller, “Autonomic and cardiovascular dysfunctions are of paramount concern in persons with spinal cord injury. In our preclinical studies, we have measured the activity of the phrenic motor nerve, which activates breathing by stimulating the diaphragm. Our data shows that ampakines very effectively stimulate neural drive to the diaphragm after spinal cord injury. Ampakines may, therefore, be of use in the treatment of spinally damaged patients, particularly during rehabilitation.”

Arnold Lippa, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors said, “Our ongoing ampakine collaboration with Dr. Fuller is a part our overall neuromodulator program to discover and develop novel drugs for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. The research results from Dr. Fuller’s laboratory add considerable support for our intention to translationally extend this work to human clinical trials.”

About RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc.

RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a leader in the discovery and development of medicines for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders, with a focus on treatment options that address conditions affecting millions of people, but for which there are few or poor treatment options, including obstructive sleep apnea (“OSA”), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”), epilepsy, chronic pain and recovery from spinal cord injury (“SCI”), as well as certain neurological orphan diseases. RespireRx is developing a pipeline of new drug products based on our broad patent portfolios for two drug platforms: (i) pharmaceutical cannabinoids, which include dronabinol, a synthetic form of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (“Δ9-THC”) that acts upon the nervous system’s endogenous cannabinoid receptors and (ii) neuromodulators, which include ampakines and GABAkines, proprietary compounds that positively modulate (positive allosteric modulators or “PAMs”) AMPA-type glutamate receptors and GABA_A receptors, respectively