An anonymous director reports
TRANSITION THERAPEUTICS' ELND005 SHOWED NO PROLONGATION OF QT INTERVAL
Transition Therapeutics Inc. has released results from a thorough QT study in which no QT effects were
observed at supra-therapeutic single doses of neuropsychiatric drug
candidate, ELND005. A tQT study is a specialized clinical trial
required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for
the approval of most drugs in development. Transition's wholly owned
subsidiary, Transition Therapeutics Ireland Ltd., presented
the tQT study data at the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer's Disease
conference on Nov. 21, 2014.
From a safety perspective, drugs that have no QT prolongation effects
are particularly desirable for administration to an elderly Alzheimer's
disease population. AD patients are especially challenging for
novel drug development, since they typically have multiple medical
co-morbidities and receive multiple medications. The use of some
anti-psychotics and anti-depressants may increase the risk of QT
prolongation, arrhythmias and sudden death in AD patients.
Single doses, 2,000 milligrams and 7,000 milligrams of ELND005, appeared to be safe and
well tolerated by healthy subjects in this study. ELND005 exposures in
this study are fivefold higher than the loading dose of 1,000 milligrams BID in
the current agitation and aggression in AD clinical study (AG201).
These ELND005 doses did not have any clinically relevant effects on
electrocardiogram parameters and the study represents a clearly
negative thorough QT study.
About the ELND005 tQT study
The QT interval represents the amount of time the heart's electrical
system takes to repolarize, or recharge, after each beat. As
prolongation of the QT interval may increase the risk for cardiac
arrhythmias, the FDA requires a tQT study for most new drugs in
development. A tQT study is a specialized clinical trial designed to
assess whether an investigational medication has the potential to
prolong the QT interval.
Study design
The tQT study was a partially double-blind (in regard to ELND005
treatment), randomized, placebo- and active controlled, four-arm crossover
trial in 52 healthy male and female subjects using single doses during
separate treatment periods, and undergoing intensive ECG monitoring.
Each subject received a single oral dose of the following four treatments:
2,000 milligrams ELND005, 7,000 milligrams ELND005, placebo as a negative control and
400 milligrams moxifloxacin as a positive control. The central ECG
laboratory was blinded to subjects, time and all treatments (including
positive control) when performing the ECG reading.
About ELND005
ELND005 is an orally bioavailable small molecule that is being
investigated for multiple neuropsychiatric indications on the basis of
its proposed dual mechanism of action, which includes beta-amyloid
anti-aggregation and regulation of brain myo-inositol levels. An
extensive clinical program of phase 1 and phase 2 studies has been
completed with ELND005 to support clinical development, including the
published phase 2 study ELND005-AD201 in Alzheimer's disease.
ELND005 is also being studied as a potential treatment of agitation and
aggression in Alzheimer's disease (study ELND005-AG201), and as a
therapy for those with Down syndrome (study ELND005-DS-201). ELND005
has received fast-track designation from the psychiatry division of the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its potential as a
treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms (including agitation) in AD.
We seek Safe Harbor.
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