Inhibitex Inc., of Atlanta, reported positive preliminary interim safety and antiviral data from the first two monotherapy cohorts of its ongoing Phase Ib clinical trial of INX-189, an oral NS5b nucleotide inhibitor being developed to treat chronic infections caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV
Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, reported that the next clinical trial of plecanatide to treat chronic idiopathic constipation patients, planned to begin in the second quarter, has been designed as a Phase II/III trial
Sinovac Biotech Ltd., of Beijing, announced that it has received approval from the China State Food and Drug Administration to commence clinical trials for its inactivated EV71 vaccine against hand, foot and mouth disease
Researchers for Octapharma USA, of Hoboken, N.J., presented new criteria used in the evaluation of hemostatic efficacy in the treatment of von Willebrand disease (VWD) and reported on their application of these criteria in clinical trials at the recent National Hemophilia Foundation annual meeting
QR Pharma Inc., of Radnor, Pa., said the FDA accepted its investigational new drug application to start clinical trials of bisnorcymserine, which is designed to target Alzheimer's disease via selective butyrylcholinesterase inhibition as well as with a disease-modifying activity via amyloid precursor protein inhibition
It has begun a Series A financing round to fund clinical trials in 2011...Bafetinib is also being evaluated in a Phase II proof-of-concept trial for safety and efficacy in patients with advanced cancers, and in another clinical trial in patients with high-risk B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia
StemCells Inc., of Palo, Calif., started a second clinical trial of HuCNS-SC, purified human neural stem cells, in Batten disease (neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis), a fatal neurodegenerative disorder in children
In other news, Vertex said it modified its clinical trial evaluating protease inhibitor telaprevir dosed in combination with Vertex's lead hepatitis C virus polymerase inhibitor, VX-222
Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., reported that IMO-3100 was well tolerated at all dose levels evaluated in the 30 healthy subjects that received IMO-3100 in a single-dose, dose-escalation Phase I clinical trial, and that target engagement of TLR7 and TLR9 was observed through inhibition of TLR7- and TLR9-mediated immune responses...The company said the next step in the clinical development of IMO-3100 will be a Phase II clinical trial in a selected autoimmune disease indication
AVI Biopharma Inc., of Bothell, Wash., said Phase Ib/II data from its clinical trial in the UK demonstrated a broadly favorable therapeutic profile for AVI-4658 in ambulatory patients with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, supporting its advancement to a U.S.-based Phase II trial later this year
The clinical trial is the first to evaluate purified neural stem cells as a potential treatment for a myelination disorder...In April, the firm also had raised $3 million from its current investors to support the advancement of the clinical trial, which is expected to start during the first half of 2011
The company believes that the discovery of these gene clusters may assist in providing the framework for effectively identifying those patients most likely to respond to SCV-07 in future clinical trials based on their individual genomic profile or gene signature
The trial, sponsored by the NCIC Clinical Trials Group, is designed to determine the compound's efficacy, which will be measured by the prostate-specific antigen responses and progression-free survival in HRPC patients who received up to one prior chemotherapy regimen
Santaris Pharma AS, of Hoersholm, Denmark, has advanced miravirsen (SPC3649), the first microRNA-targeted drug to enter clinical trials, into Phase II studies to assess the safety and tolerability of the drug in treatment-naïve patients infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV
Two Phase III clinical trials, COMFORT-I in the U.S., Canada and Australia, and COMFORT-II in Europe, have completed enrollment and are evaluating the benefits of treatment with INCB18424 compared to either placebo or best available care...Ligocyte Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bozeman, Mont., has initiated the first clinical trial for its bivalent intramuscular (IM) norovirus vaccine candidate, marking the fourth human clinical trial in the company's norovirus virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine program
Inhibitex Inc., of Atlanta, reported positive preliminary interim safety and antiviral data from the first two monotherapy cohorts of its ongoing Phase Ib clinical trial of INX-189, an oral NS5b nucleotide inhibitor being developed to treat chronic infections caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV