Category: Clinical Trials / Drug Trials

Immtech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Amex: IMM) announced the completion of interim analysis of itsPhase III pivotal clinical trial of Immtech’s oral drug candidate, pafuramidine. An independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) conducted the interim analysis and recommended that the trial should continue as planned.

EuropaBio - the European association for bioindustries congratulates the European Commission and European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for the first comprehensive event on the status of clinical development in Europe and on the evaluation of the Clinical Trials Directive in practice in the member states.

Pharmasset, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRUS) has commenced dosing in a Phase 1 study of R7128 in combination with Pegasys (pegylated interferon) plus Copegus (ribavirin) in up to 75 treatment-naive patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1. R7128 is a prodrug of PSI-6130, an oral cytidine nucleoside analog polymerase inhibitor of HCV that is being developed through Pharmasset’s collaboration with Roche.

Peptimmune, Inc. a privately held biotechnology company, announced that physicians have treated the first participant in a clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of PI-2301, a novel peptide copolymer for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.

Rockwell Medical Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMTI), a leading, innovative manufacturer and developer of concentrates and specialty pharmaceuticals focused on the end- stage-renal-disease market (ESRD), announced that it has begun dosing patients in its Phase IIb Dose-Ranging Clinical Study for Soluble Ferric Pyrophosphate (SFP), the Company’s physiological iron maintenance therapy drug.

For the first time in decades, a significant number of clinical trials are being conducted to seek a treatment, perhaps even a cure, for lupus, a chronic and potentially fatal autoimmune disease that affects more than 1.5 million Americans — 10,000 in Los Angeles County alone.

The benefits of individually tailored herbal medicine treatments have so far remained unproven and might be outweighed by the potential health risks suggests an article in Postgraduate Medical Journal. A review of the current laws concerning the regulation of tailored herbal medicinal treatments is currently underway in the United Kingdom. The authors explain that the promotion of the effectiveness of herbal medications has been growing steadily over the last two decades.

A new, easily ingested form of a compound that has already shown it can attack the roots of leukemia in laboratory studies is moving into human clinical trials, according to a new article by University of Rochester investigators in the journal, Blood.The Rochester team has been leading the investigation of this promising therapy on the deadly blood cancer for nearly five years.

NicOx S.A. (Eurolist: COX) announced the presentation of promising clinical and preclinical results from its collaboration with Ferrer Grupo International at the 21st World Congress of Dermatology, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced it has initiated a Phase I clinical study of a novel diclofenac sodium patch, the Company’s lead pain asset. The study will evaluate safety, tolerability, and systemic pharmacokinetics of a topical patch formulation of diclofenac sodium, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), in 16 healthy volunteers. The Phase I study is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2007.