Phoenix PharmaLabs, Inc. (PPL) is a privately held drug discovery company focused on the development and commercialization of new non-addictive treatments for pain and new therapies for the treatment of opiate addiction. PPL has designed a new class of opioid drugs with unique opiate receptor characteristics. The drugs have high binding affinity at all three opiate receptors: mu, kappa and delta and relatively more balanced receptor activity than morphine and other opioids. This profile results in the first ever opiate analgesics that appear to be non-addicting and free of all significant dangerous side effects. Extensive animal testing by the NIH demonstrated that the company's drugs provide very high levels of analgesic potency (4 to 60 times greater than morphine) without addiction liability or any serious side effects such as respiratory depression, dysphoria, constipation, vomiting, or diuresis. The drugs are orally active and inexpensive to manufacture. The firm also offers very promising use for addiction therapy as a preferred substitute for methadone and buprenorphine. The firm has entered into a license agreement for the China market with Aoxing Pharmaceutical Company (NYSE: AXN). Aoxing will conduct clinical trials in China and data will be provided to the United States FDA for simultaneous approval in the US. This work is being done in collaboration with the China National Institute on Drug Dependence (Beijing University).
