Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDRA) today announced positive
interim results from a Phase 1 clinical trial of IMO-2125 in patients
with chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV). IMO-2125 is an agonist
of Toll-like Receptor 9 that Idera designed to treat HCV by inducing
endogenous interferon-alpha and other Th1-type cytokines and chemokines.
“We believe that the mechanism of IMO-2125 which induces endogenous
interferon-alpha may provide advantages over the use of recombinant
interferon in the null responder HCV patient population”
In this four-week trial, IMO-2125 was well tolerated and induced
dose-dependent increases in endogenous interferon-alpha and other
cytokines. IMO-2125 also demonstrated a treatment-related decrease in
viral load at escalating dose levels. All patients enrolled in the trial
are null responders, which is defined as patients who have failed to
achieve a 2 log10 reduction in viral load during previous 12 to 24 weeks
of treatment with pegylated recombinant interferon-alpha plus ribavirin,
the current standard of care treatment.
“The interim data in the difficult-to-treat null responder HCV patient
population through the first four dose levels of IMO-2125 in this
four-week trial are very encouraging,” said Tim Sullivan, Ph.D., Vice
President of Development Programs. “Based on these data, we are
extending the trial to a fifth dose level and beginning to recruit
patients in this cohort.”