ChemDiv Inc. of San Diego, and iDialog (Intellektualniy Dialog) of Yaroslavl, Russia, announced today the successful completion of a pre-clinical development and the subsequent nomination of ID-12 as lead clinical development candidate for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. This novel small molecule orally-bioavailable inhibitor of hepatitis C virus (HCV) blocks early stage of viral infection.
Vadim Bichko, Ph.D, ChemDiv's Vice President of Virology, stated: "We are very encouraged by the safety, potency, PK profile, and novel molecular mechanism of action, exhibited by iDialog's HCV inhibitor in the preclinical studies. We are quite excited by the ability of ID-12 to prevent spread of viral infection through cell-cell contact, which makes it superior to the neutralizing antibodies and other viral entry inhibitors. This mechanism of action is complimentary to that of other classes of HCV inhibitors currently on the market, or in late stage clinical development. Thus, ID-12 is a potentially important component of therapeutic cocktails for chronic hepatitis C."
The Phase I study is scheduled to begin in Q4 2009, and will be conducted in Russia. The objectives of the trial include assessment of safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics. iDialog plans to present first clinical results at a scientific meeting in the second half of 2010. ChemDiv will continue supporting R&D programs of iDialog, including Proof of Concept Studies in man, through its Chemical Diversity Research Institute in Moscow, Russia.
Prof. Dr. Mikhail Dorogov, Director General of iDialog, confirmed: "We are happy that our discovery effort over last 3 years resulted in advancement of the candidate molecule to clinic. We shall strive in developing a successful new therapy for treatment of large population of hepatitis C patients worldwide. With its current financing iDialog is planning to complete the early development program to obtain clinical Proof of Concept. We are actively exploring options, which will allow us to accelerate the program with maximizing our shareholder's return on investment. We believe our approach is matching to innovative models of early partnering, co-development an co-investment established by pharma and investment community in the recent past."
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