Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACUR) today announced clinical evaluation is now allowed under an Investigational New Drug application ("IND") filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for a benzodiazepine product candidate utilizing our Aversion® Technology.
The primary active ingredient in this product candidate is intended for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Aversion® Technology is a unique mixture of active and functional inactive ingredients, intended to minimize abuse liability potential of the primary active ingredient. Benzodiazepine products are classified as Schedule IV for potential abuse by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"). Acura has now opened three INDs for Aversion® Technology product candidates.
According to Drugs of Abuse, published by the DEA, tranquilizers, which include benzodiazepines, are abused in manners similar to opioid analgesics. The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimates that 21.5 million people have abused prescription tranquilizers at some point in their lifetime and 5.1 million have abused tranquilizers in the past year.
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