New drug news: Civamide in Phase III and acquired by OPKO

Wow, a new one slipped in right under the radar. Well, the more the merrier.

OPKO Health Acquires Rights to Clinical Stage Compound for Dry Eye (October 10, 2007)

The compound, civamide, a proprietary TRPV-1 receptor modulator and neuronal calcium channel blocker, is in Phase III clinical trials in an intranasal formulation to treat various types of pain. Increased tear production was observed in over 50% of the patients receiving civamide, and no systemic side effects were noted. Preliminary evidence suggests that civamide's effects on tear production result from its ability to modify signal transduction pathways present in the human lacrimal gland.

At first blush I kind of wonder how dry eye patients will feel about putting an arthritis treatment up their nose, but then, there's a lot of desperation in the dry eye crowd. If it works, well, I'm sure they'll have a market.