  We study the effect of a hidden charm nuclear excited state $N^*_{c\bar{c}}$
in the $\pi^- p \to D^- \Sigma_c^+$ reaction near threshold using an effective
Lagrangian approach. We calculate the background contribution of the $t$ and
$u$ channels by the $D^{*0}$ vector meson exchange and $\Sigma_c^{++}$
intermediate state, respectively. We show that the consideration of a
$N^*_{c\bar{c}}$ resonance provides an enhancement of the total cross section
close to the reaction threshold. We also evaluate the differential cross
section for different energies and we study the angle dependence. It is
expected that our model calculations will be tested in future experiments.
