Argenta CEO Dr Christopher Ashton said: “Just 18 months after signing the deal with Dr Reddy’s, the team has already selected the first candidate drug to proceed into pre-clinical development.”
“With GMP material already manufactured we are on target to enter Phase I in mid-2008 and Phase II in 2009,” he continued. “We believe we are first-in-class for this inhaled anti-inflammatory approach to treat chronic respiratory disease.”
Under the terms of a licensing agreement announced in February 2006, Argenta and Dr Reddy’s are collaborating to identify clinical candidates against an undisclosed but proven anti-inflammatory drug target and to develop these candidates to Phase II proof-of-concept.