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Transforming Today's Science Into Tomorrow's Cures
Samaritan's collaborative researchers have made important patented discoveries in the fields of, central nervous system diseases, such as, Alzheimer's disease; cancer; cardiovascular disease; and infectious diseases, such as, AIDS, and Hepatitis C. These discoveries have positioned us with a rich pipeline of new drugs with novel mechanisms of actions to develop.
Samaritan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an entrepreneurial biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and marketing of innovative therapeutics. At Samaritan Pharmaceuticals our mission has been to create life-saving drugs for people suffering from AIDS, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and cancer. View all the latest press releases and news articles focused on Samaritan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. These publications, called peer-reviewed journals, are scholarly periodicals requiring each article submitted be judged by an independent panel of experts (scientific peers) to authenticate the accuracy of the material. The number of articles printed and the variety of publications accepting the article serve to underscore the legitimacy of information. Samaritan has collaborative relationships with other pharmaceutical companies to commercialize branded approved prescription products in selected niche territories, such as, in Greece, Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, FYROM, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovania, Syria and Turkey. Before a drug can be offered to the public it must go through several phases of rigorous testing to make sure it is safe, efficient and does what it says it can do. The testing is mandated and overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SAMARITAN PIPELINE - (MECHANISM OF ACTION VIDEOS)
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Alzheimer's Disease
(SP-233)
CNS / Alzheimer's Disease

Caprospinol (SP-233): A small molecule therapeutic indicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

Capabilities:
  1. Caprospinol actually removed beta-amyloid plaque in-vivo (animal studies)
  2. Caprospinol has been shown to restore memory in rats (Morrison Watermaze)
  3. Caprospinol offers a subjective endpoint with which to evaluate its efficacy

Caprospinol Profile: Caprospinol (SP-233) is the first drug ever to demonstrate the correlation of clearing beta-amyloid from the brain. It also improves the brain histopathology and recovers memory function.

Current Treatments: No cure has been found for AD, nor is there a proven method to slow its progression. The approved treatments existing today are cost-prohibitive and minimally effective.

Caprospinol (SP-233) Advantage: Caprospinol cleared beta-amyloid plaque formation and restored memory capacity in-vivo; confirming in-vitro studies showing Caprospinol binds ß-amyloid directly and inhibits the formation of neurotoxic amyloid-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs) by forming stable heavy complexes with the peptide. In addition, the studies demonstrated Caprospinol protects mitochondria function, thus protecting cell viability and decreased cell death.

Caprospinol (SP-233) Value: Caprospinol not only protects the memory from future impairment but it has demonstrated memory restoring
capabilities. Further, the ability of Caprospinol to stop and eliminate amyloid plaque formation
suggests it may be the first major breakthrough in the actual treatment of AD.

Caprospinol (SP-233) Overview:
Caprospinol (SP-233) is a novel Alzheimer's drug candidate that Samaritan believes has the potential to clear beta-amyloid plaques from the brain; a problem that most researchers today believe, is the cause of Alzheimer's. Samaritan filed an IND application for Caprospinol on October 30, 2006 and was subsequently granted an IND number by the FDA. Samaritan believes that Caprospinol could be a significant breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer's, Samaritan plans to provide the information requested by the FDA as quickly as possible, in order to continue moving our Caprospinol development program forward.

On December 7, 2006, Samaritan announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its regulatory review of our IND (Investigational New Drug) application for Caprospinol and has requested that additional information be submitted in support of the safety of Caprospinol, prior to initiating Samaritan's proposed Phase I clinical study. Currently, Samaritan has entered into a service agreement with Advinus Therapeutics Ltd, India to provide the additional studies requested by the FDA.

Treating the Disease, not just the Symptoms

Unlike drugs currently used to treat Alzheimer's that just alleviate symptoms, Caprospinol might potentially be a viable treatment for the disease itself. Preclinical studies have shown that Caprospinol targets and binds to the beta-amyloid protein, washing out beta-amyloid plaque from the brain. Today, the beta-amyloid protein is what most researchers believe is the cause of Alzheimer's disease.

SP-233 Mechanism Of Action
Two mechanisms of action have been identified to explain the neuroprotective properties of Caprospinol against the beta-amyloid peptide Ab1-42:

1. Caprospinol binds to Ab1-42 and blocks its oligomerization into the highly neurotoxic species Amyloid Derived Diffusible Ligands (ADDLs). These anti-aggregation properties might also explain the ability of Caprospinol to wash-out the amyloid plaques form rat brain in vivo, in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. Caprospinol binding to Ab1-42 also blocks the peptide from entering the mitochondria, one of its sites of toxin action, thus protecting mitochondrial function in an indirect manner.

2. The neuroprotective properties of Caprospinol could also be the result of a direct pharmacological effect on the compound on mitochondria. Caprospinol protects complexes IV and V of the respiratory chain, exerts an anti-uncoupling effect and inhibits the opening of the mitochondria transition pore.

In summary, Caprospinol pharmacology includes binding to Ab1-42 and a direct effect at the mitochondria level.

Samaritan has mainly focused on the use of SP-233 for treatment of Alzheimer's disease, however Samaritan believes that SP-233 would be useful for the treatment of the neurological disorder, Parkinson's disease.
  • Parkinson's disease (PD) affects both men and women in almost equal numbers. Today, 1.5 million Americans have PD, and each year 60,000 new cases are diagnosed. While PD usually develops after age 65, 15% of those diagnosed are under age 50.
  • The typical early-stage annual medical cost per PD patient ranges from $2,000 to $7,000. As the disease progresses, substantial disability (inability to maintain balance, walk, speak, move) requires assisted living and nursing home care, which can exceed $100,000 per patient annually. Overall, PD is estimated to cost the nation about $25 billion annually. Source: "Older Americans, 2005 Survey"