Aliso Viejo-based drug maker Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s recent year-end conference call brought word that the company is enrolling subjects for four concurrent clinical trials for its AVP-923 and AVP-786 drug candidates. AVP-923 is being looked at for treating agitation in Alzheimer's disease patients in one of the studies, said Joao Siffert, the company's senior vice president of research and development. Siffert said that one of the trials was "off to a good start" with 23 sites across the U.S. currently recruiting patients. "With no approved therapies for agitation associated with Alzheimer's, managing the symptoms remains quite challenging for clinicians. Dementia-related behavioral symptoms, including agitation, can be extremely distressing to the individual, their families and the caregivers," he said. Avanir's "prime study" is a second-phase clinical trial of AVP-923 for central neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis.