ANA598 Receives Fast Track Designation From the FDA for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C...(believe this class of antivirals holds g...)

About ANA598

Anadys recently initiated patient dosing in a Phase Ib study of ANA598 in HCV patients. In the Phase Ib study, naive genotype 1a and 1b patients are to receive ANA598 over three days at doses of 200 mg bid (twice-a-day), 400 mg bid or 800 mg bid. Ten patients will be enrolled at each dose level, eight receiving active drug and two receiving placebo.

In a Phase I study in healthy volunteers, ANA598 was administered as capsules at single oral doses of 400 mg, 800 mg, 1400 mg, 2000 mg (fed and fasted) and 3000 mg. In addition, a separate cohort received two 800 mg doses 12 hours apart. ANA598 was well tolerated at all doses and there were no serious adverse events or withdrawals from the study, although definitive conclusions regarding product safety and tolerability cannot be made until the results of future clinical trials of longer duration in more patients are known. All reported adverse events were classified as mild or moderate, with no apparent dose relationship. The pharmacokinetic profile demonstrated sustained plasma levels of ANA598 with a half-life of 24 to 30 hours in the fasted state and 22 hours in the fed state, consistent with the potential for once-daily or twice-daily oral dosing.

Preclinical evaluation of ANA598 was completed in the first quarter of 2008, leading to submission of an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to the FDA, subsequent allowance of the IND by the FDA and initiation of clinical investigation in the second quarter of 2008. In the preclinical program, ANA598 was well tolerated at all doses tested in 28-day GLP toxicology studies. In September, Anadys initiated long-term, chronic toxicology studies of ANA598. If ANA598 is successful in early stage clinical trials, it is anticipated that the acceleration of the
'/>"/>