NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP), a specialty pharmaceutical
company developing innovative therapeutics for rare gastrointestinal and
endocrine disorders, today reported the presentation of data at the
Digestive Disease Week® (DDW®) meeting held May 19-22 in San Diego. In a
poster session, investigators presented data that continue to support
Gattex® (teduglutide) as a potential first-in-class treatment for short
bowel syndrome (SBS), a rare and debilitating condition in which the
body is unable to absorb enough nutrients and/or fluids through the
gastrointestinal tract. Patients with SBS depend on chronic parenteral
nutrition (PN) and/or intravenous (IV) fluids to survive.
Investigators reported the baseline characteristics of seven patients
with short bowel syndrome who successfully achieved complete
independence from PN and IV fluids while on Gattex therapy. In addition,
new findings demonstrated that the pharmacological properties of Gattex
are associated with significant increases in citrulline, an endogenous
non-protein amino acid, that is an indirect measure of enterocyte
intestinal mass. In a third presentation, results from a randomized
study showed that Gattex does not affect gastric emptying in healthy
volunteers.
"Gattex may represent an entirely new approach for treating adult short
bowel syndrome and these presentations from multiple clinical studies
reinforce our belief in the drug's therapeutic potential," said Roger
Garceau, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer of NPS
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "These data show continued reductions, and for
some complete independence from parenteral nutrition (PN) with long-term
Gattex therapy, which is encouraging given the serious complications
associated with PN."
The following summarizes the three posters presented at DDW:
Abstract Sa1962: "Short Bowel Syndrome Patients with
Intestinal Failure (SBS-IF) Successfully Achieved Complete Independence
from Parenteral Nutrition" by Jeppesen et al.
In Phase 3 studies, Gattex was shown to significantly reduce PN/IV fluid
dependence in patients with SBS with some patients achieving complete
independence. In this research, Dr. Jeppesen and colleagues described
the characteristics of seven patients who achieved complete independence
with Gattex therapy during two Phase 3 placebo-controlled studies and
the open-label extension phase of those trials.
The data showed that of 173 patients who received Gattex: