Acacia Pharma initiates Phase IIa cachexia trial

Acacia Pharma, a UK-based pharmaceutical company, has initiated a Phase IIa study of its product APD209 to treat cachexia in cancer patients.

According to Acacia, APD209 has been designed to target specific problems experienced by cachectic patients, in particular, inadequate nutrition and active muscle breakdown.

The study will be conducted at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, UK. It is planned to treat up to 16 patients for eight weeks with APD209 and take detailed measurements of muscle size, muscle function, overall activity, quality of life and other parameters to assess the efficacy of the product. Safety and pharmacokinetics will also be evaluated.

The trial is expected to last for nine months and initial read-out is anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Julian Gilbert, CEO of Acacia Pharma, said: We are excited to be initiating our first Phase IIa study so early in our company’s development and especially pleased to be investigating a product with real promise in an area of such high unmet medical need. PD209 fits our corporate strategy of developing therapies in supportive care which can make a major difference to patients while at the same time representing an exciting commercial opportunity.