REINACH, Switzerland, April 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arpida Ltd. today announced that it will host a conference call on Thursday 17 April 2008 at 8.30am CET. In this conference call, a leading expert will discuss the medical need and developments in the area of anti-infective drugs as well as the outcome of a recent meeting of the Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee. During that meeting, the committee discussed product development and clinical trial design for both mild/moderate and moderate/severe community acquired pneumonia (CAP). A primary objective for the committee deliberations was to discuss issues relating to clinical trial design.
During the conference call, Arpida will also discuss the clinical data from the ASSIST-1 and ASSIST-2 trials with intravenous iclaprim in complicated Skin and Skin Structure Infections (cSSSI). In addition, the pooled analysis of the clinical data from these two pivotal Phase III trials will be discussed. Part of the data has already been published in earlier press releases, some additional statistical data, not previously published, will also be discussed. All data, as well as the dial-in details, will be made available via a press release on 17 April, prior to the conference call.
About Arpida Ltd.
Arpida is a biopharmaceutical company with research facilities in Reinach, Switzerland and in the USA. It focuses on the discovery and development of novel drugs that seek to overcome the growing problem of microbial resistance. The most advanced compounds include an antibacterial under regulatory review and an antifungal in Phase III.
Arpida’s leading product candidate is intravenous iclaprim, a potent antibacterial that targets severe infections requiring hospital treatment, including those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The clinical programme for the first indication, complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI), has been completed. The submission of the NDA to the US FDA was completed in March 2008.
In December 2007, Arpida announced the enrolment of the first patients in a Phase II clinical study with intravenous iclaprim in the treatment of patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) or healthcare associated pneumonia (HCAP).
In January 2008, the US FDA granted authorisation to progress oral iclaprim into a Phase II ‘intravenous-to-oral’ switch trial. Iclaprim could be offered not only as an intravenous therapy for hospital use in acute situations, but also as an oral formulation, allowing early patient discharge followed by outpatient treatment. This switch could be a valuable instrument in reducing healthcare costs and enhancing patient comfort.
Arpida’s fourth most advanced antibiotic programme, AR-709, targets upper and lower respiratory tract infections acquired in the community setting. AR-709 exhibited potent activity against a large panel of pneumococcal clinical isolates including those resistant to currently used drugs. Promising results of “first-in-man” studies with AR-709 were published in March 2007.
An additional compound, AR-2474, has achieved in vivo proof of concept. AR-2474 has been shown to be effective in eradicating pathogens in preclinical models of skin infection and nasal carriage.
Apart from the antibiotic programmes, Arpida has an innovative antifungal therapy (TLT) which is in Phase III clinical trials in Europe, targeting onychomycosis.
Moreover, the company has several other leads in optimisation and additional discovery programmes derived from its own discovery platform at various research stages.
This press release contains specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like believe, assume, expect or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. Against the background of these uncertainties readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements or to adapt them to future events or developments.
CONTACT: Arpida contacts: Dr Khalid Islam, President and CEO, Tel:
+41-61-417-96 60; Harry Welten, MBA, CFO and Senior Vice President, Tel:
+41-61-417-96 65; Paul Verbraeken, Head of Corporate Communications Tel:
+41-61-417-96 83
