JAPANESE COMPANIES TO DEVELOP ANTI-ITCH DRUG

Toray Industries, Japan Tobacco and Torii Pharmaceutical have announced an agreement to jointly develop and market a novel antipruritic (anti-itch) agent, TRK-820, discovered by Toray, for liver disease patients in Japan. The companies are also developing the compound as a treatment for uremic pruritus for hemodialysis patients.

Pruritus related to liver disease is a non-inflammatory systemic or local severe itching condition with an unclear pathology. Patients with the condition experience sleep disturbances, causing quality of life problems. It has been known that conventional antipruritic agents are not fully effective in treating this condition.

TRK-820 is a selective (kappa) opioid receptor agonist with a novel mechanism of action, which differs from that of conventional drugs such as antihistamines, and the companies expect that the compound will be effective for treating itching conditions that are resistant to existing therapeutics.

Under the agreement, TRK-820 will be co-developed by Toray and Japan Tobacco and marketed by Torii. Studies of TRK-820 for uremic pruritus in hemodialysis patients are in the final stages of development.