PanX®, a New Class of Drugs to Treat Anxiety is Discovered and Patented

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Oct. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- US patent 9,446,030 has issued covering novel drug combinations intended for the treatment of anxiety disorders affecting 40 million Americans.  TPD LLC has been formed to oversee the clinical development and commercialization of the PanX® brand of medications.

PanX® products are intended for the "as needed" (prn) treatment of anxiety and panic.  The drugs will compete commercially against benzodiazepines, which have the potential for addiction and abuse.  However, PanX® products are drug combinations of two classes of historically-safe and non-addicting active ingredients, beta blockers and antiemetic antimuscarinic agents.

Beta blockers interfere with adrenaline and address the cardiovascular symptoms of anxiety, such as the palpitations associated with an accelerated heart rate.  Antiemetic antimuscarinic agents, commonly used to treat motion sickness, address the non-cardiovascular and central nervous system symptoms of anxiety.  The combinations are designed to suppress the multiple diverse symptoms of acute anxiety.

The company is filling a significant unmet need in psychiatry and mental health, namely fast-acting prn treatments for acute anxiety.  This new approach could be of benefit to patients afflicted by social anxiety disorder, performance anxiety, panic attacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The inventor and CEO is Thomas P. Dooley, PhD, a serial entrepreneur with three decades of pharmaceutical experience.  An outstanding Advisory Board of academic clinicians and pharmaceutical industry executives has been established.

Professor Charles B. Nemeroff, MD PhD, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami stated, "A number of patients with prominent anxiety symptoms do not respond or cannot tolerate currently available treatments. This novel approach combining two medications with distinct mechanisms of action has the potential to fill an important niche in the management of such patients."

According to neurosurgeon and venture capitalist T. Forcht Dagi, MD DMedSc, "The importance of timely intervention and rapid relief in a panic disorder cannot be overestimated. Many patients are reluctant to take medications chronically. The PanX medications under development promise to provide a reasonable, effective, and therapeutically attractive alternative."

The patented products are currently available as prescription compounded pharmaceuticals (www.PanX.us).  TPD LLC is also pursuing the clinical development of selected products to seek approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  The medications may also be administered to pets.

SOURCE TPD LLC