Bottlenecks in the development of topical analgesics: molecule, formulation, dose-finding, and phase III design.

Topical analgesics can be defined as topical formulations containing analgesics or co-analgesics. Since 2000, interest in such formulations has been on the rise. There are, however, four critical issues in the research and development phases of topical analgesics: 1) The selection of the active pharmaceutical ingredient.

NS1209/SPD 502, A Novel Selective AMPA Antagonist for Stroke, Neuropathic Pain or Epilepsy? Drug Development Lessons Learned.

Preclinical Research The selective AMPA (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid) receptor antagonist, NS1209 (also known as SPD 502) has been explored in several research and development campaigns since its selection as a lead drug candidate in the early 1990s by the Danish biotechnology company, NeuroSearch. The compound was successively tested in animal models of stroke, neuropathic pain and epilepsy. The preclinical data to support development for the treatment of stroke were incomplete, as the compound was administered after the stroke episode, and did not protect subcortical areas of the brain.

The terms 'autacoid', 'hormone' and 'chalone' and how they have shifted with time.

The increase of knowledge in a particular field (endocrinology) can be understood if one follows how certain key concepts were constructed and transformed over time. To explore such construction and transformation (shifts in meaning), we studied the use of the concepts 'autacoid' and 'chalone' in a period of one century (1916-2016), since the introduction of these concepts by the British professor of physiology Sir Sharpey-Schäfer. We could identify that the use of 'autacoid' shifted from a very broad category encompassing both stimulating and inhibiting hormones, in the period 1916-1960, to a much more specific use of the term for locally produced bioactive molecules, from the 1960s onwards.