Arrowhead receives FDA IND approval for Adipotide obesity drug

Arrowhead Research Corporation (NASDAQ: ARWR), a nanomedicine company with development programs in oncology and obesity, today announced that the Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for its first obesity drug candidate, Adipotide^TM, was accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowing the initiation of a clinical trial to test the safety of the compound. Adipotide^TM specifically targets and kills blood vessels supplying white fat tissue. The Phase I clinical trial will be conducted by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, which will bear the costs of the planned clinical trial.

"This is a significant milestone for our rapidly moving obesity program," said Dr. Christopher Anzalone, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Less than two months ago, data demonstrating substantial weight loss in obese rhesus monkeys using Adipotide^TM was published in the prominent peer-reviewed journal, Science Translational Medicine. We are very excited to take this next step and that MD Anderson plans to start treating patients shortly. We believe we have a powerful suite of drug candidates that not only may help to combat obesity, but also may help to reverse symptoms associated with Type II Diabetes."