Tarix begins patient enrollment for TXA127 Phase 1 study in DCBT

Tarix Pharmaceuticals (www.tarixpharma.com) today announced enrollment of the first patient in a Phase 1 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 will evaluate the safety of TXA127 following double cord blood stem cell transplant (DCBT) in adult patients with hematological cancers.  The study will also compare the time to engraftment for patients receiving TXA127 to that of historical controls in order to assess the efficacy of TXA127 in speeding up the engraftment process.

Umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells offer increased flexibility in the degree of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching required for transplantation and are a critical source of donor cells for patients for whom a source of immunologically compatible donor cells are not readily available.  Following transplantation, the rate at which the infused stem cells are able to repopulate patients' blood with platelets and other mature blood cells (engraftment) determines the risk of developing serious complications such as infection and bleeding.  There are currently no drugs available that speed up the engraftment process.

"Initiation of our Phase 1 clinical program in DCBT marks another significant milestone in the development of TXA127 for enhancing engraftment following stem cell transplantation," stated Rick Franklin, CEO of Tarix Pharmaceuticals.  "This program complements our ongoing placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical study in adults receiving autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant.  We are excited to advance these programs in order to address the unmet needs of the full spectrum of patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplants."