First in human
MetrioPharm announces first patients dosed in a clinical phase IIa trial for MP1032 for the treatment of moderate to- severe chronic plaque psoriasis
Zurich, June 07, 2016. MetrioPharm AG announces the first dosing of patients in the phase IIa clinical trial MP1032-CT02 on May 24, 2016. To date, five patients were successfully enrolled. MP1032 can inhibit inflammation by reducing the concentration of small proteins (cytokines) that are involved in the inflammation process in diseases such as chronic plaque psoriasis.
MP1032 also has the potential to reduce susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections. MP1032 differs from currently available drugs by its anti-inflammatory and also potentially anti-infective effect, its efficacy, and tolerability. Therefore, it can improve the treatment of patients who do not tolerate currently available drugs.
At this time, there are more than three million patients who suffer from moderate-to-severe psoriasis in the European Union alone.
The phase IIa trial is conducted in Germany as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled exploratory pilot study with twice-daily oral dosing. Psoriasis patients aged 18 to 65 years will receive a six-week treatment with placebo or MP1032.
"We intend to obtain preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the active ingredient MP1032 and to confirm the good safety data from the phase I clinical trial. I am very pleased that the MP1032-CT02 project has been promoted this determined by our development team over the past few months and that we already successfully included first patients.
This represents a further important step in our clinical development.", said Dr. Petra Schulz, MetrioPharm's project manager for the clinical trial MP1032-CT02.
An enrolment of a total of 44 male and female participants with chronic plaque psoriasis is planned in this clinical trial. Participants are divided into two groups of 22 participants each. Primary endpoints of the study include pharmacokinetics and safety and tolerability of multiple doses of MP1032 over six weeks in patients. Preliminary evidence of effectiveness is examined as a secondary endpoint.
More information about this phase IIa clinical trial will be available soon under the search term MetrioPharm at www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu.
About MP1032:
MetrioPharm's proprietary drug candidate MP1032 is a novel synthetic smallmolecule drug with strong anti-inflammatory properties and an excellent toxicity profile in preclinical studies. MP1032 belongs to a new class of macrophage-modulatory drugs that act on the innate immune system. MP1032 targets the molecular activation mechanisms of inflammatory macrophages. These cells drive the inflammation, pain and tissue damage in a wide range of inflammatory and auto-immune diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, musculo-skeletal injuries and multiple sclerosis.
About MetrioPharm:
MetrioPharm is a clinical-stage drug development company with legal base in Zurich and an R&D location in Berlin. The company develops a breakthrough class of new anti-inflammatory and immunemodulating drugs against chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
