23rd Jun 2014 06:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Verona Pharma PLC Monday said its VRP700 novel treatment for chronic severe cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis had failed to meet the primary endpoint in a phase IIa clinical trial, and it will now end further development of the drug on its own.
In a statement, it said the trial to evaluate the efficacy of a single dose of VRP700 did not meet the primary endpoint of a statistically significant reduction in cough frequency when compared to
placebo.
A previous single centre pilot study in which an inhaled dose of VRP700 was tested in a smaller group of patients with interstitial lung disease had been successful, effectively inhibiting coughing.
"These data are clearly disappointing and did not meet our expectations given the marked inhibition of coughing observed in a previous clinical trial with patients administered VRP700, albeit with a different underlying disease, ILD. It is possible that VRP700 works better in such patients or that more frequent dosing, for a longer time period, may be required to effectively suppress coughing in IPF patients," Vewrona Pharma Chief Executive Jan-Anders Karlsson said.
The company said it won't undertake any more in-house development of VRP700, although it will review the data from the study and "explore opportunities to realise further value from this asset".
It said it would now focus on its novel lead drug, RPL554, which it is initially developing as a nebulized treatment for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It expects the next set of clinical data for the drug in early 2015.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @SteveMcGrath1
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