Date: 2014-06-23
Type of information: Results
phase: 2a
Announcement: results
Company: Verona Pharma (UK)
Product: VRP700
Action mechanism:
Disease: chronic severe cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Therapeutic area: Respiratory diseases - Lung diseases
Country:
Trial details:
Latest
news: * On June 23, 2014, Verona Pharma, a drug development company focused on “first-in-class” medicines to treat respiratory diseases, announced that the Phase IIa clinical trial, to evaluate the efficacy of a single dose of VRP700 as a novel treatment for chronic severe cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) did not meet the primary endpoint of a statistically significant reduction in cough frequency when compared to placebo. This placebo-controlled, cross-over exploratory study was conducted in 20 IPF patients who received, as part of the protocol, a single inhaled dose of either 100 mg VRP700 or placebo. It follows the successful outcome of a single centre pilot study in which an inhaled dose of VRP700 effectively inhibited coughing in a smaller group of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD).Verona Pharma CEO, Dr. Jan-Anders Karlsson, commented: “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. While we will not undertake any further in-house development of VRP700, we will comprehensively review the data from this study and explore opportunities to realise further value from this asset. “In the meantime - and as outlined at the time of our recent fundraising - we will continue to focus on the development of our novel lead drug, RPL554. This inhaled, first-in-class, PDE3/PDE4 inhibitor has both bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory properties and is initially being developed as a nebulized treatment for acute exacerbations of COPD. The next set of clinical data for RPL554 is expected in early 2015.”
