hursday, 11 December 2008 Sydney, Australia: Arana Therapeutics Limited (ASX: AAH) today announced that it has commenced its international multi-centre Phase II dose ranging study in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recruitment of the 200 patients is expected to take approximately 12 months with the formal results of the study available in mid-2010.
The first Investigator meeting for the project was held in Sydney yesterday with Investigator and study personnel attending from 12 sites in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. Separate meetings will be held in early 2009 for the other 31 sites in Europe, Asia and Argentina.
Study ART621/221 is an international, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The study is designed to establish the efficacy of ART621 in RA and will compare three doses of ART621 with a placebo in patients also taking methotrexate. The study will be conducted in Australia, the U.S., New Zealand, Czech Republic, Poland, India, Malaysia and Argentina.
Arana’s Acting CEO, Dr Steffen Nock said “This is an exciting time for ART621 and with today’s announcement we now have two ongoing studies in RA, and the results of our Phase II psoriasis study expected in early 2009.”
“This clinical data will be key in furthering our partnering discussions. The clinical progress of ART621 confirms the utility of Arana’s antibody engineering to design next generation products for these important and very large markets,” he added.
Arana’s Chief Medical Officer, David Fuller discusses the commencement of this trial with Boardroom Radio. To hear this interview please click on this link http://www.brr.com.au/event/54265?popup=true – this will also be available on the company’s website in the News & Media section.
About Arana Therapeutics:
Arana Therapeutics (ASX: AAH) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next generation antibody based drugs that will improve the lives of patients with inflammatory diseases and cancer.
Arana Therapeutics’ innovative engineering technologies provide the basis for developing its next generation antibody candidates. Arana Therapeutics has the financial strength and management expertise to develop its product pipeline.
Arana has a significant track record of commercialising its technologies and has collaborations with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), CSL, Kyowa Hakko Kirin (KHK), and licensing arrangements with Centocor (J&J) and Abbott Laboratories.
For further information: www.arana.com
