MILFORD, Mass., Dec. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of viral infections, today announced data from a preclinical study of its lead small molecule nucleic acid hybrid (SMNH) antiviral compound, SB 9200, in the woodchuck model of Hepatitis B (HBV) infection.
SB 9200 is a small orally bioavailable dinucleotide that selectively activates within infected cells the cellular viral sensors RIG-I and NOD2 to inhibit viral replication and cause the induction of intracellular interferon signaling pathways for antiviral defense.
The Company previously presented results of a 12-week study evaluating SB 9200 as a monotherapy in woodchucks at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Liver Disease (EASL). In that study, treatment with SB 9200 resulted in significant reductions in viral load, including viral replication intermediates, and in surface antigen. The aim of this recent study was to evaluate the overall antiviral response in woodchucks when SB 9200 is used in a sequential-dosing fashion with entecavir, an antiviral nucleoside indicated for the treatment of HBV.
In this study, oral dosing with SB 9200 at 30 mg/kg for 12 weeks followed by four weeks of oral dosing with entecavir at 0.5 mg/kg/day in woodchucks resulted in statistically-significant, average declines of 6.4 log10 in viral DNA, and 3.3 log10 in viral surface antigen (sAg), along with significant reductions of hepatic viral DNA, viral RNA and cccDNA. This study presents evidence that SB 9200, when used with entecavir in an add-on regimen, can result in highly potent antiviral activity in woodchucks against the woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV).
“We continue to assemble positive data suggesting that SB 9200 may potentially be an effective treatment against Hepatitis B,” said Dr. Kris Iyer, Chief Scientific Officer of Spring Bank. “We are excited about the results from this important preclinical study and look forward to initiating our Phase 2 trial of SB 9200 in HBV during the first half of 2016.”
The Company anticipates that the results of this preclinical study of SB 9200 and entecavir will be presented in an international antiviral conference in the near future.
About Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals
Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of a novel class of orally bioavailable therapeutics based on its proprietary small molecule nucleic acid hybrid, or SMNH, chemistry platform. SMNH compounds are small segments of nucleic acids that the company designs to selectively target and modulate the activity of specific proteins implicated in various disease states. The company is developing its most advanced SMNH product candidate, SB 9200, for the treatment of viral diseases. SB 9200 has been designed to selectively activate the host cellular proteins, RIG-I and NOD2, which have been implicated in the body’s immune response to viral infections. Spring Bank believes that SB 9200 may play an important role in antiviral therapy by modulating host immune response to fight viral infections such as HBV and RSV.
Note Regarding NIH-Funded Research:
Certain studies mentioned in this press release were partly supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AI094469 and NIAID contract laboratories. The content of this press release is solely the responsibility of Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Contact:
Maeve Conneighton
Argot Partners
(212) 600-1902
maeve@argotpartners.com
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SOURCE Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
