NEWS

• Catabasis Initiates Phase 1 Trial Of CAT-2003 For Treatment Of Severe Hypertriglyceridemia

  Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc., today announced the initiation of a Phase 1 study to investigate the safety and tolerability of CAT-2003 in healthy volunteers and in adults with mildly elevated lipids. CAT-2003 is a conjugate of niacin and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), an omega-3 fatty acid, covalently linked using the company's proprietary SMART Linker technology to create a new chemical entity and is being developed for patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia.

• Versartis Initiates VERTICAL Trial Of Long Acting Human Growth Hormone In Children With Growth Hormone Deficiency

  Versartis, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for patients with endocrine disorders, announced today that it has begun its first pediatric clinical trial of VRS-317, the company's proprietary once monthly form of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), in children with Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD). The Versartis Trial In Children to Assess Long-Acting Growth Hormone (VERTICAL) study is being conducted in up to 26 sites in the United States and was initiated following the successful completion of a Phase I study in adults with GHD.

• Arena Pharmaceuticals Initiates Phase 1 Multiple Dose Clinical Trial Of APD811 For Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

  Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) announced today the initiation of dosing in a Phase 1 multiple dose clinical trial of APD811, a novel oral drug candidate discovered by Arena that targets the prostacyclin (IP) receptor for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

• ImmusanT Initiates Clinical Trials Of Nexvax2 Therapeutic Vaccine For Celiac Disease

  ImmusanT announced recently that it has initiated clinical trials in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. to evaluate Nexvax2, the first therapeutic vaccine for patients with celiac disease.

• MicuRx Pharmaceuticals Completes Phase 1 Trial For MRX-I, A Next-Generation Antibiotic

  MicuRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation antibiotics, today announced the completion of its Phase 1 clinical trial for MRX-I, its first development-stage antibiotic drug candidate.

• Achillion Reports Clinical Data On Portfolio Of Protease Inhibitors Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACHN), a leader in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs to combat the most challenging infectious diseases, today reported new clinical trial results on its portfolio of protease inhibitors including: Phase 2 interim 12-week treatment results with ACH-1625 for the treatment of genotype 1 treatment-naive hepatitis C virus (HCV), exploratory data on ACH-1625 for the treatment of HCV genotype 3, and initial proof-of-concept data for ACH-2684.
• Trident Pharmaceuticals Announces Initiation Of Phase 1a Clinical Study Of HF1020 Trident Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology company developing therapies for autoimmune diseases and allergic conditions, today announced the initiation of a Phase 1a study for HF1020, a first in class recombinant protein with immunomodulatory activity.
• AVI BioPharma Expands Clinical Pipeline With Initiation Of Phase 1 Study Of Influenza Therapeutic Candidate AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII), a developer of RNA-based therapeutics, today announced that it initiated dosing of volunteers in a Phase 1 clinical study of AVI-7100, the Company's lead drug candidate for the treatment of influenza.