PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Anacor Pharmaceuticals today announced positive clinical trial results for its lead phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) inhibitor, AN2728, a novel topical anti-inflammatory compound derived from Anacor’s boron chemistry platform. These results were obtained from a multi-center, Phase 2b, randomized, double-blind, dose-ranging, bilateral trial comparing AN2728 ointment, 0.5% and 2.0%, applied once or twice daily, to vehicle in 145 patients with mild-to-moderate plaque-type psoriasis. Compared to those treated with vehicle, psoriasis plaques treated with AN2728 achieved greater improvement in the Overall Target Plaque Severity Score (OTPSS) in a significantly higher proportion of patients after six weeks in the 2.0% AN2728 twice daily dosing group (P <0.001), which was the primary endpoint of the trial. A dose-response was also observed across the four dosing groups for this outcome. Additionally, of those plaques treated for 12 weeks with 2.0% AN2728 twice daily, 54 percent achieved complete or near complete clearance with at least a two-grade improvement from their baseline severity score.
