Merz Pharmaceuticals Announces Results of Clinical Trials with NT-201Botulinum neurotoxin type a free from complexing proteins at Annual Movement Disorders Society Meeting

Results from two randomized, active-controlled clinical trials in patients with blepharospasm and cervical dystonia -- one placebo-controlled spasticity trial and one upper limb spasticity trial -- were presented at the Movement Disorder Society (MDS) 13th annual International Congress in Paris, France. The studies were sponsored by Merz Pharmaceuticals, which plans to file a Biologic License Application (BLA) for NT-201 in the USA in the near future (see also Merz Pharmaceuticals).

"The results of these studies reaffirm our beliefs that NT-201 (Xeomin(R); botulinum neurotoxin free from complexing proteins), can be used to potentially aid focal dystonia and post-stroke spasticity sufferers," said Eric Pappert, M.D., Vice President of Medical Affairs, Merz Pharmaceuticals, USA. "In addition, NT-201 showed results in treating upper limb spasticity sufferers of various etiologies including stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy, warranting additional studies as a potential treatment option for a wide scope of patients."

NT-201 is a neurotoxin therapy free from complexing proteins due to a combination of high biologic activity with low bacterial protein load. It has been approved for marketing in Europe since 2007 to treat various movement disorders, and more recently approved in Canada for the indications of symptomatic management of blepharospasm, cervical dystonia and post-stroke spasticity of the upper limb. "Studies in Europe have shown non-inferiority of NT-201 to one other botulinum toxin in the treatment of cervical dystonia," said Pappert.

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