Metabolex reports efficacy results of Arhalofenate combination therapy

Arhalofenate is a uricosuric agent, when used in combination with xanthine oxidase inhibitors could be a treatment option for patients with tophaceous gout, a chronic, progressive rheumatic disease.

The open label clinical pharmacology study included 11 gout patients with serum uric acid (sUA) levels of at least 8 mg/dL, who were either treatment naive or had discontinued uric acid lowering therapies.

The goal of the trial is to assess the percentage of patients reaching the target for the sUA targets of 5 and 4 mg/dL when treated in combination with the highest dose of febuxostat and two doses (400 and 600 mg) of arhalofenate.

The study showed that treatment with 400 mg of Arhalofenate increased the response rates to 100 and 36%, while 600 mg of the drug increased the response rates to 100 and 82%, respectively.

Metabolex chief medical officer Raymond Urbanski said the study confirms the ability of Arhalofenate to be used with febuxostat to provide clinically and statistically meaningful lowering of serum uric acid for patients with tophaceous gout.

The earlier eight Phase 1 and four Phase 2 studies of Arhalofenate in patients with type 2 diabetes, demonstrated the safety and tolerability of the drug for up to 6 months of treatment.