BioCis Pharma starts trial of novel topical drug for dermatology

BioCis Pharma Ltd., a privately-held drug development company with its headquarters in Turku, Finland, announced that it has begun a new Phase IIa clinical testing of ProtoCure emulsion cream, the company's novel topical drug for dermatology.

The double-blind, vehicle-controlled study is designed to evaluate the tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of the topical product in a total of 18 subjects with mild to moderate plaque psoriasis. The subjects will apply ProtoCure emulsion cream up to four weeks to the skin areas affected by the disease.

"With the commencement of this clinical trial we expand our clinical activities to a new dermatological indication," says Lasse Leino, CEO of BioCis Pharma. "Together with the ongoing phase IIa clinical trial in patients with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis, this first study in psoriasis will quickly enable us to obtain data to support our full-scale phase II clinical development program of ProtoCure emulsion cream in chronic skin inflammation. We expect to get results from both studies by third quarter of 2009."

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated chronic inflammatory disease characterized by local lesions on the skin. It affects about 2 to 3 per cent of the general population in the Western countries. Psoriasis may significantly impair the life quality of the affected subjects, and it may lead to psoriatic arthritis, an inflammatory disease affecting the joints. Existing treatments often have undesirable side effects and do not always meet the needs of patients.

BioCis Pharma Ltd is an innovative drug development company with a business idea to develop drug therapies based on a novel, patented therapeutic principle. BioCis Pharma is targeting unmet medical needs in substantial therapeutic markets including inflammation, allergy, and cancer. The company's main investors are Karolinska Development AB (publ.), Finnish Industry Investment Ltd., and Etra Invest Ltd.