CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced that it plans to initiate a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial for VX-509, a novel and highly selective inhibitor of Janus kinase 3 (JAK3). The 12-week trial is expected to enroll approximately 200 patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Vertex expects to initiate the trial in the first quarter of 2010 and to obtain interim clinical data from this trial, including measurements of safety, tolerability and clinical activity, by mid-2010.
