Karolinska Development’s drug developer Dilafor AB, focused on tafoxiparin for obstetric indications, has enrolled the first subject in its Phase 2b study with tafoxiparin in pregnant women planned for labor induction, Karolinska said Tuesday in a press release.
About a quarter of all pregnant women are subject to labor induction. More than half of these inductions fail, which leads to protracted labor that entail an increased risk of complications for both mother and child. In a previous phase 2a study, subcutaneous administration of Dilafor’s drug candidate tafoxiparin has shown a significant positive effect with a shortened time to delivery and an enhanced ripening of the cervix in patients induced into labor, the company said in the press release.
Dilafor has now enrolled the first subject in a phase 2b study to investigate in a larger group whether treatment with subcutaneously administered tafoxiparin can soften the cervix and improve the outcome of labor induction, and thereby shortening the time to delivery, the press release reads.
Dilafor’s tafoxiparin has the potential to become a completely new treatment option for pregnant women that have high risk of fetal and maternal complications, said Viktor Drvota, CEO of Karolinska Development.