BioLine: Positive results in schizophrenia treatment trials

BioLine has announced positive interim results from an ongoing trial of its GABA-enhanced antipsychotic treatment.

According to the firm, in a multi-centre six-week trial conducted in hospitalised patients suffering with schizophrenia that has resisted current treatments, BL-1020 demonstrated statistically significant effectiveness with minimal side effects.

Part of a planned review by an Independent Safety Monitoring Board (ISMB), the assessment reviewed the first 20 schizophrenic patients that completed three weeks of the study.

"These results further substantiate existing pre-clinical and clinical data suggesting that BL-1020 possesses the efficacy of currently available antipsychotics, but without their compliance-limiting motor or metabolic side effects," commented Dr Morris Laster, chief executive of BioLineRx.

"Based on the medical need for novel therapeutics to address the severe unmet medical need for schizophrenia, and the preliminary findings in this study, we believe that BL-1020 has the potential to be a significant advance," he concluded.

BioLineRx, a clinical-stage drug development company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, is dedicated to building promising therapeutics for unmet medical needs, with leading programmes for schizophrenia and the treatment of damaged heart tissue.