SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , a biotechnology company focused on the development of compounds for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, announced today that it has completed the last patient visit in its Phase 2 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) study, including the sub-study of patients who received an additional 3 months of treatment followed by a multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scan. VIA will report top-line data from the ACS trial, as well as the Phase 2 carotid endarterectomy trial (CEA), concurrent with the company’s data presentations at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Session 2008 on November 9.
VIA-2291 is a potent small molecule drug that targets inflammation in the blood vessel wall, a primary disease process in atherosclerosis. It is being developed as a once-daily, oral drug to potentially decrease the risk of major adverse cardiac events associated with inflammation, including heart attack and stroke.
The ACS principal study enrolled 191 patients, including more than 90 patients in the MDCT sub-study. The study is designed to establish dose and safety data in patients with ACS who have experienced a recent heart attack or unstable angina. The study includes measures of leukotrienes, biomarkers of inflammation, as well as medical imaging of the coronary vessels to evaluate the impact on plaque characteristics in a subset of patients. Patients in the study are treated once daily with one of three dose levels of VIA-2291 or placebo.
In addition to the ACS and CEA studies, VIA is conducting a third Phase 2 clinical trial, the FDG-PET Trial. Enrollment in this trial is ongoing and endpoints in this study include reduction in carotid plaque inflammation following dosing with VIA-2291 as measured with state-of-the-art FDG-PET imaging technology, as well as assessment of standard biomarker measurements of inflammation.
About VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on the development of compounds for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. VIA is building a pipeline of small-molecule drugs that target a significant unmet medical need: reducing inflammation in the blood vessel wall, which is an underlying cause of atherosclerosis and its complications, including heart attack and stroke. The company’s lead drug candidate, VIA-2291, is in multiple Phase 2 clinical studies in patients with cardiovascular disease. For more information, visit: http://www.viapharmaceuticals.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events or to VIA’s future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause VIA’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond VIA’s control and which could materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.
Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to:
All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth above. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and VIA undertakes no obligation to update publicly any of these statements in light of new information or future events.
CONTACT: James G. Stewart, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-415-283-2204; or Media, Danielle
Bertrand of WeissComm Partners, +1-415-946-1056, dbertrand@wcpglobal.com;
or Investors, San Francisco, Ian Clements, or Lauren Glaser,
+1-415-392-3385, or New York City, Brian Korb, +1-646-378-2923, all of The
Trout Group, for VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Web site: http://www.viapharmaceuticals.com/
