Antibe Therapeutics (OTCQB:ATBPF; TSX-V:ATE) reported positive results from a Phase 2 study of ATB-346 in osteoarthritis (OA).
Twelve patients with OA of the knee were treated once daily for 10 days with ATB-346 at a dose of 250 mg, a dose that contains one-sixth of the typical daily dose of naproxen for treating OA.
The company said in a statement that the lower dose was very effective at reducing pain, and equal to or better than naproxen or celecoxib in comparable studies. The drug was also safe and well tolerated.
John Wallace, CSO, said there is a large body of evidence showing that market-leading arthritis drugs like celecoxib and naproxen, taken twice daily for a week or more, typically reduce WOMAC pain scores, the gold standard in arthritis trials, by about four units, with no material improvement beyond that level with continued treatment.
“In this trial, a once daily dose of ATB-346 produced a reduction of the WOMAC pain score of 4.3 units on day four, increasing to 7.6 units on day 10, with a very high level of statistical significance in comparison to baseline pain,” he added.
He said the enhanced effectiveness of ATB-346, compared with the market-leading drugs for osteoarthritis was a pleasant surprise, particularly considering the low dose of ATB-346 that was used.
CEO, Dan Legault, said Antibe plans to expeditiously perform additional clinical trials to confirm the results seen in this Phase 2 study, explore the effectiveness of even lower doses of ATB-346, as well as demonstrating increased gastrointestinal safety of this drug in humans.
