IThenaPharma Inc. and Autotelic Inc. Announce Presentation on Celecoxib

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. - Sept. 22, 2015 - PRLog -- Autotelic Inc. and IThenaPharma Inc. announced today that it will be presenting the poster entitled "Therapeutic Drug Monitoring for Improved Celecoxib Therapy" at the annual meeting of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology in San Francisco, CA  (September 28, 2015).  Autotelic Inc. and IThenaPharma are privately-held companies.

Celecoxib is a highly effective anti-inflammatory drug. However, its use is associated with adverse events including edema and hypertension. Therefore, the celecoxib label includes an approved low dose of 100 mg twice a day or 200 mg once a day. This study examined whether patients undergoing celecoxib therapy would benefit from therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). Meta analyses were performed to compare patient response, pain reduction and edema rate among low and high doses of celecoxib.  In the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), dose increment of celecoxib to more than 200mg/day did not improve treatment efficacy, but significantly increased the edema rate, suggesting a narrow therapeutic range of celecoxib for treating OA patients. With inter-individual variance in PK, TDM should be applied to ensure the proper blood level of celecoxib in patients, maximizing treatment efficacy and minimizing toxicity.

 The time and location of the presentation are as follows:

Monday, September 28, 5:30-7:30pm, session 2, Grand Ballroom and Italian, Mezzanine – Poster #96

Category: Safety and Efficacy

"Therapeutic Drug Monitoring for Improved Celecoxib Therapy"

Authors: Wang, Wen; Mehta, Anshuma; Hwang, Larn

Autotelic Inc, Fountain Valley, CA and IThenaPharma Inc., City of Industry, CA.

About Celecoxib

Celecoxib is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that exhibits anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic activities in animal models. The mechanism of action of celecoxib is believed to be due to inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis, primarily via inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and at therapeutic concentrations in humans, celecoxib does not inhibit the cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) isoenzyme. In animal colon tumor models, celecoxib reduced the incidence and multiplicity of tumors. Celecoxib is the only cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective inhibitor currently on the market in the United State for relief of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, as well as for the treatment of acute pain associated with post-oral and post-orthopedic surgery. Compared with traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which non-selectively inhibit both COX-1 and COX-2 enzyme, celecoxib has reduced the gastrointestinal toxicity while providing the similar efficacy associated with NSAIDs, but celecoxib is still associated with a dose-related increase in cardiovascular risk.

About ACCP

The vision and mission of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology is to improve health by optimizing therapeutics; provide innovative leadership and interdisciplinary education that will enable the generation, integration and translation of scientific information to optimize research, development and utilization of medication for the benefit of all.

About Autotelic Inc.

We use Therapeutic Drug Monitoring to enhance development of therapeutics to increase patent life,  expand the therapeutic window and shorten the clinical development path. We start companies or invest in existing companies combining our TDM device with the licensed therapeutics to become a winning drug-device combination. We bring on experts and the experience needed for a successful biotechnology/pharma company with Regulatory/Clinical Dev/Clinical Ops/Manufacturing/Corporate Ops/Business Development. We take the company through its logical exit points either M&A or to access the public markets so that sufficient funding is in place to fully develop the drug-device combination. We work as a team of partners each having their own expert area – geographically or functionally. We are internally driven to do what is best. We are Autotelic.

© 2014 Autotelic Inc.

About IThenaPharma Inc.

The company is focused on the development and commercialization of combination products for pain, arthritis and hypertension. The mission is to improve patient compliance and adherence through personalized doing.

© 2014 IThenaPharma Inc.

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