First patient enrolled in TXA127 Phase 2 clinical study to stimulate engraftment following transplant

Feb 24 2011

Tarix Pharmaceuticals (www.tarixpharma.com) today announced enrollment of the first patient in a Phase 2 clinical study of TXA127, a pharmaceutical grade formulation of a naturally occurring peptide known to stimulate early hematopoietic precursor cells in the bone marrow.  The study is currently enrolling patients undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TXA127 in accelerating engraftment following transplant.

Following a stem cell transplant, it can typically take several weeks for the stem cells to repopulate the patient's blood with platelets and other mature blood cells. During this time the patient is at increased risk of serious infection and bleeding. There are currently no drugs available that speed up the engraftment process.

"TXA127 has the potential to reduce the time it takes for blood cell counts to return to safe levels following stem cell transplant, which may accelerate the recovery process and reduce some of the health risks associated with stem cell transplant," stated Rick Franklin, CEO of Tarix Pharmaceuticals. "TXA127 is unique because it directly stimulates transplanted stem cells to replenish circulating platelets, white blood cells, and red blood cells."

TXA127 was granted Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment to enhance engraftment in patients receiving a stem cell transplant. TXA127 has also received Orphan Drug designation for the treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS).