The quest to develop a safer non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to treat arthritis has cleared an early hurdle, according to the company trying to bring it to market.

Medinox, Inc. reported Feb. 24 that its NSAID drug MX-1094 has been found to be well-tolerated and effective in phase 1 trials involving 48 participants when compared to the NSAID naproxen.

Despite being widely used, conventional NSAIDs such as aspirin, naproxen and diclofenac have limitations, particularly for those undergoing long-term therapy. Upper gastrointestinal ulcers are a frequent side effect of NSAID therapy and are responsible for 107,000 hospitalizations and 16,500 deaths annually in the United States.

Monte Lai, Medinox president and CEO, said new NSAIDs such as MX-1094 have the potential to be widely used not only as safer therapies for pain and inflammation but also for other new indications, which were previously not possible due to the gastrointestinal toxicity of conventional NSAIDs.

Source: Medinox