Arrowhead Files For Regulatory Permission To Begin Phase 1 Trial Of RNAi Therapeutic ARC-AAT

Arrowhead Research Corporation

, a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted RNAi therapeutics, today announced that it recently filed an application for approval to begin a Phase 1 clinical trial of its RNAi-based therapeutic candidate, ARC-AAT, for the treatment of liver disease associated with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Pending approval, Arrowhead intends to proceed with a double blind, placebo-controlled dose escalation, Phase 1 study to determine the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and effect on circulating alpha-1 antitrypsin levels of ARC-AAT in healthy volunteers and patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The study is planned to start in Australia in healthy volunteers and will dose escalate until predetermined levels of alpha-1 antitrypsin reduction are reached. Once these levels of protein knockdown are achieved, the study will transition into a population of patients with ZZ genotype alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency to further evaluate escalating doses of ARC-AAT. The study is designed to enroll up to 48 subjects, including healthy volunteers and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency patients. The application was submitted to an ethics committee in compliance with the Clinical Trial Notification process of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, Therapeutic Goods Administration.