This 17-day study was designed to test the efficacy of CH-4051 in a rat collagen-induced arthritis model. The results reveal a remarkable level of efficacy in delaying the onset of the disease, significantly decreasing the severity and, at certain doses, completely blocking all development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The most significant finding from this study was that once daily dosing of 10mg/kg of CH-4051 administered from day zero completely prevented the onset of arthritis.
Similarly, twice daily 5mg/kg doses of CH-4051 reduced the severity of disease in all animals and prevented disease onset in some. Both the once daily dose of 10mg/kg and the twice-daily dose of 5mg/kg dose of CH-4051 demonstrated better prevention of disease than 0.25mg/kg of methotrexate (a known efficacious dose in this model) administered every three days.
Simon Pedder, president and CEO of Chelsea, said: “This new data further supports the activity previously demonstrated by CH-1504 in a pilot human study and underscores the promise of our full portfolio of metabolically inert antifolates.”