Verona Pharma has dosed the first patient in a phase 2a test of its candidate RPL554 for cystic fibrosis, the most common fatal inherited disease in the United States and Europe.
Verona Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising innovative therapeutics for the treatment of respiratory diseases, kicked the Phase 2a single-dose trial in the United Kingdom with the main goal to evaluate the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics profile and tolerability of RPL554 in up to 10 CF patients, as well as examine the effect on lung function.
RPL554 is a first-in-class, inhaled, dual inhibitor of the enzymes phosphodiesterase 3 and 4 (PDE3/PDE4) with anti-inflammatory as well as bronchodilatory properties, currently in development for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and CF.
“Cystic fibrosis is the most common fatal inherited disease in the United States and Europe. More than 30,000 people in the U.S. and more than 70,000 people worldwide are living with cystic fibrosis,” stated Jan-Anders Karlsson, PhD, CEO of Verona Pharma.
“Two recently approved therapies are indicated only for a subset of CF patients, and there is a need for novel, effective anti-inflammatory medications to treat the underlying inflammation in cystic fibrosis. RPL554 has a differentiated mechanism of action and pre-clinical data in cystic fibrosis combined with our positive clinical data in COPD leads us to believe it has the potential to be an important new treatment for this debilitating condition. We look forward to progressing the drug through this study and expect to announce top-line data in the first half of 2018,” said Karlsson.