This phase Ib trial is designed to evaluate the tolerability, pharmacology and antiviral activity of PRO 140 in patients infected with HIV. PRO 140 binds CCR5, a principal portal used by HIV to enter cells and a promising target for a new generation of HIV therapies. PRO 140 is a viral-entry inhibitor, designed to prevent HIV from entering and infecting immune system cells.
“Small-molecule therapies are often limited by side effects, drug interactions and difficult daily treatment regimens. PRO 140 has the potential to address these limitations,” said Paul Maddon, Progenics CEO and chief science officer.
“PRO 140’s unique mode of action is designed to protect healthy immune system cells by blocking the first step of the viral life cycle – viral entry,”
In a previously reported phase Ia clinical trial, PRO 140 was generally well tolerated at all dose levels with no reported clinically meaningful drug-related side effects. Dose-dependent binding of PRO 140 to CCR5-expressing peripheral blood cells was reported in that trial, with prolonged coating of CCR5 cells by PRO 140 for at least 60 days, without cellular depletion.