Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm Cellceutix has started the Phase II trial of Prurisol for the treatment of plaque psoriasis.
The multi-centre trial has been designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Prurisol given orally compared to placebo in a randomised and double-blind setting in patients with mild to moderate chronic plaque psoriasis.
The company plans to enrol around 100 subjects in the study.
According to the firm, the primary efficacy endpoint of the trial will be the percentage of subjects with greater than or equal to a two-point improvement in investigator’s global assessment (IGA) rating as defined by visual inspections of patient lesions.
In laboratory studies, Prurisol demonstrated to be effective against psoriasis in animal models both in induced psoriasis as well as a xenograft model with human psoriatic tissue.
Cellceutix also announced the resignation of Dr James Alexander as COO at the company due to the recent occurrence of a personal medical issue.
Cellceutix CEO Leo Ehrlich said: "I wish to publically thank Dr Alexander for his great commitment to Cellceutix. The efforts, hard work and long hours he contributed have been invaluable in advancing our pipeline and growing Cellceutix into the strong company it is today.
"Much younger people would have had a hard time keeping up with his pace. I am pleased to report that although he needed to substantially cut his workload, he agreed to do limited consulting for Cellceutix to help complete the Kevetrin Phase I programme, a project that he feels passionate about to move into advanced clinical studies."
Image: Prurisol found to be effective against psoriasis in animal models in laboratory studies. Photo: courtesy of Marketwired/ Cellceutix Corporation.
