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Novogen's Investigational Drug for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Has Positive Results Following Phase Ib Trial
| Source: Novogen, Limited
STAMFORD, CT and SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwire - December 4, 2007) - A recently completed
Phase Ib clinical trial of a new drug to treat inflammatory bowel disease
(IBD) indicates that treatment may be possible with just a single daily
dose.
The drug, NV-52, is a novel compound being developed by Australian
pharmaceutical company Novogen Limited (ASX : NRT ) (NASDAQ : NVGN ), as an
oral agent for the maintenance of remission in IBD.
IBD is a debilitating illness which comprises two syndromes -- ulcerative
colitis involving mainly the colon and Crohn's disease which can affect the
entire gastrointestinal tract. IBD sufferers experience periods of
diarrhoea, bleeding, pain and extreme fatigue, and in intractable cases may
require surgical resection of portions of the bowel.
IBD is characterised by periods of remission, during which symptoms are
controlled by a variety of drugs. However, relapse where symptoms recur is
very common and often needs hospitalisation. There is no cure for IBD, and
currently available medications are unable to prevent disease 'flares.' As
well, all therapies have side effects which compromise quality of life
significantly.
The NV-52 Phase Ib study was conducted under the direction of clinical
pharmacologist, Professor Laurie Howes, Professor of Pharmacology and
Therapeutics at Griffith and Bond Universities.
In this latest study, NV-52 was administered just once daily over a seven
day period to nine healthy volunteers. During that time, the levels of
NV-52 were measured in the blood, and a wide range of safety assessments
undertaken.
Following this once daily dosing regime, concentrations of NV-52 were
maintained in the plasma of the volunteers at the level associated with
suppression of colitis in the mouse model of IBD. This suggests that if
the drug can be demonstrated to be effective in humans, only once daily
dosing of NV-52 would be required to enable control of symptoms in IBD
patients. Importantly, there were no adverse events and no side effects
reported during the study.
"These results indicated that oral therapy with just one dose of NV-52 each
day would provide plasma levels in IBD patients that were similar to those
which were effective in mice," Professor Howes said. "Furthermore, chronic
dosing with NV-52 caused no abnormalities in any of the volunteers,
confirming NV-52's excellent safety profile. Further studies are now
appropriate to determine whether NV-52 is effective in maintaining
remission in IBD patients."
Program Leader of the Novogen Anti-inflammatory and Cardiovascular Drug
Research Program, Dr. Cath Walker, said, "These data suggest that NV-52
appears to be a safe and non-toxic therapy which, if proven to be effective
in humans, will enable the prolonged maintenance of remission in IBD in the
absence of drug side effects."
NV-52 is a synthetic phenolic derivative. NV-52 given orally is protective
in a mouse model of colitis, where it has been effective at not only
reducing the severity of acute inflammation in the bowel, but at inhibiting
its initiation. Formal toxicology testing has demonstrated that NV-52 is a
completely non-toxic compound, causing no adverse effects in animals, as
well as no genotoxic or mutagenic effects.
About Novogen Limited:
Novogen Limited (ASX : NRT ) (NASDAQ : NVGN ) is an Australian biotechnology
company that has patented isoflavone technology for the treatment and
prevention of degenerative diseases and disorders. Over the past ten years,
Novogen has conducted the largest and most comprehensive isoflavone
clinical testing programs in the world. Novogen is involved in drug
discovery and product development for disorders that are commonly
associated with aging and coordinates an international clinical research
and development program with external collaborators, hospitals and
universities. For more information, visit www.novogen.com.
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