GIACONDA HALTS PHASE IIa HEPATITIS C TRIAL
July 10th 2008 09:18
Tuesday July 8, 2008
Daily news on ASX-listed biotechnology companies
* ASX, BIOTECHS DOWN: CLINUVEL UP 5%, LABTECH DOWN 17%
* GIACONDA HALTS PHASE IIa HEPATITIS C TRIAL
* GLAXOSMITHKLINE OFFERS $15k GRADUATE RESEARCH GRANTS
* NUSEP SHARE PLAN, PLACEMENT RAISE $1.75m
* SELECT VACCINES AVIAN INFLUENZA DRUG EFFECTIVE IN MICE
* IDT TRADING HALT DIRECTOR SHARES RELATED
* ANZ DOWN TO 14% OF SOLAGRAN, BUT BUYERS SILENT
* WILSON HTM SHEDS 1% OF NANOSONICS
* PORTLAND RIGHTS ISSUE RECEIVES $1.7m COMMITMENTS
* XCEED REQUESTS INVESTMENT TRADING HALT
* PHOSPHAGENICS APPOINTS MICHAEL ASHTON DIRECTOR
*CLINUVEL APPOINTS JACK WOOD DIRECTOR
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GIACONDA
Giaconda has suspended its phase IIa trial of Hepaconda for the treatment of hepatitis C in people with genotype 1 infection that does not respond to current therapy.
The company said two key indicators of the disease were not affected by the treatment.
“While significant improvement was demonstrated in liver function among participants in the study, total normalization was not achieved and further formulation is warranted before continuing the study,” Giaconda said.
The company said Hepaconda’s effectiveness was measured through viral load (the amount of hepatitis C virus in the patient’s bloodstream and three markers of liver damage, called alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT).
All were expected to be reduced if Hepaconda was effective.
While GGT showed an immediate and lasting return to the normal range and AST came back close to normal, there was minimal effect on viral load and ALT.
Importantly for the planned dose ranging study, no adverse effects were reported at the dose used in this study.
Giaconda said the next step in Hepaconda’s development would be to carry out a dose ranging trial to ascertain an optimum dose.
This study will be carried out once Giaconda has secured further funding.
Giaconda chief executive officer Patrick McLean said the company was “very encouraged by the observed improvement in liver function that Hepaconda has produced and intend to take advantage of this data to improve our formulation”.
“The results, especially among this group of patients who have exhausted all of their options, give us confidence in the future of Hepaconda and may open the door to an even better understanding of the application of the therapy,” Mr McLean said.
Giaconda was unchanged at 30 cents.
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