Enrollment complete in HemaQuest HQK-1001 Phase 2 study in sickle cell disease

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (HemaQuest), a biotechnology company focused on developing small molecule therapeutics to treat hemoglobin disorders, announced today that it has completed enrollment in a randomized multi-dose Phase 2 study of HQK-1001 in patients with sickle cell disease. The study, initiated in April of this year, enrolled a total of 52 patients in clinical sites in the US, Canada, Jamaica, Egypt and Lebanon, and is designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of HQK-1001. Secondary objectives include the effect on fetal hemoglobin and sickle cell crises. HemaQuest expects interim results from the study in late 2011 and final results in the first quarter of 2012.

"To complete enrollment in just five months is a significant accomplishment and a credit to everyone involved in the trial," said HemaQuest Chief Medical Officer Richard G. Ghalie, MD. "We believe that the rapid enrollment demonstrates the need for, as well as the excitement among physicians treating sickle cell disease worldwide about, a potential new therapy for this devastating disease which affects underserved populations around the world."