AesRx Anti-Sickling Drug Aes-103 Enters Phase 1/2a Clinical Trial at National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The trial is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. The AesRx/NIH collaboration involves two separate NIH components—the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program. TRND is part of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). TRND and AesRx worked together to complete in less than a year all pre-clinical development needed for the FDA to allow Aes-103 as an investigational new drug and proceed with human clinical trials.
“The commencement of clinical trials in sickle cell patients marks a major step forward for Aes-103,” commented Stephen R. Seiler, AesRx’s Chief Executive Officer. “If successful, the Aes-103 program will represent a breakthrough in the treatment of sickle cell disease. While sickle cell patients currently have several treatment options, the lack of therapies that can prevent cell sickling represents a major unmet medical need.”
Aes-103 has been designated as an orphan drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is a first-in-class, orally bioavailable small molecule for the treatment of SCD. AesRx believes it is the only drug currently in human trials that directly blocks cell sickling. While red blood cells are normally round, people who have sickle cell disease produce crescent-shaped cells, which can cause blood flow problems. The present trial will examine the safety and tolerability of Aes-103 in stable sickle cell disease patients as well as the drug’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties.
“This study represents a crucial effort to translate basic science findings into a new treatment for sickle cell disease,” said Gregory Kato, M.D., a hematologist with the NHLBI and principal investigator of the Aes-103 study.
“The TRND program has made significant contributions to the development of Aes-103 as a potential treatment for those suffering from sickle cell disease,” said Christopher P. Austin, M.D., director of the Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation at NCATS. “This project epitomizes both the urgent and neglected medical needs, and the innovative scientific and collaborative approaches to solving them, that are TRND’s mission.”
For more information on this trial, go to: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01597401
Sickle cell disease is a recessive disorder of the hemoglobin which can lead to a wide range of serious, sometimes life-threatening, conditions including: chronic hemolytic anemia, chronic pain and acute painful crisis, stroke, acute chest syndrome, and cumulative damage to tissues and organs. More than 75,000 people in the United States, and 13 million individuals worldwide, are afflicted with sickle cell disease.
Note: References to the National Institutes of Health, its programs or its staff, should not be viewed as an endorsement or implied endorsement of AesRx, its products or services. Additional information about sickle cell disease is available at: Sickle Cell Anemia, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Sca/SCA_WhatIs.html Sickle Cell Disease, http://www.cdc.gov/NCBDDD/sicklecell/index.html
About AesRx
AesRx is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of treatments for two orphan diseases. The Company’s lead program (Aes-103) is targeted to the treatment of sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is a recessive disorder of the hemoglobin which can lead to a wide range of serious, sometimes life-threatening, conditions including: chronic hemolytic anemia, chronic pain and acute painful crisis, stroke, acute chest syndrome, and cumulative damage to tissues and organs. More than 13 million individuals world-wide are afflicted with sickle cell disease. Aes-103 works by increasing the affinity of sickle hemoglobin for oxygen. Because only red blood cells with no bound oxygen will sickle, increasing the ability of the sickle red blood cells to bind oxygen reduces the number of cells that can sickle. AesRx is developing Aes-103 in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health. AesRx’s second development program, Aes-210, is targeted to treat certain inflammatory diseases of the lower intestine, including distal ulcerative colitis, pouchitis and radiation induced proctitis.
This press release contains certain statements that may be forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, including statements relating to the product portfolio, pipeline and clinical programs (collectively the “Products”) of AesRx LLC (the “Company”), the market opportunities for the Products, the potential effectiveness of the Products based on the interpretation of past and/or planned pre-clinical or clinical data and the Company’s goals and objectives. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties.