New trial suggests drug could help people with arthritis
A new study has suggested that a novel drug is safe and could be useful for the treatment of inflammation caused by chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Drug company Logical Therapeutics said that the Phase Ib trial had shown that its proprietary naproxen prodrug LT-NS001 was safe and well-tolerated in healthy adults.
It added that LT-NS001 is converted in the blood to naproxen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that can be used to treat OA and RA.
According to the company, the new trial showed that subjects dosed twice a day for seven days with the drug exhibited plasma concentrations of naproxen that were within therapeutic ranges.
The company also pointed to pre-clinical trials that indicated that LT-NS001 caused significantly less damage to the gastrointestinal tract than equivalent doses of naproxen.
Dr Mitchell Fink commented: "The robust pre-clinical data package for LT-NS001 suggests that this novel compound will provide patients with a drug that combines the efficacy and cardiovascular safety of naproxen while substantially decreasing the risk for gastrointestinal ulceration.
"The results from our recently completed Phase Ib study of LT-NS001 are very encouraging, because they show that administration of the pro-drug leads to clinically useful circulating levels of naproxen."
A spokesman for the Arthritis Research Campaign said: "New painkillers for the treatment of both OA and RA are much-needed. There is currently a big gap in the market because of the potential side effects of existing NSAIDs."
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