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Maxygen, Roche enter clinic with R7025; companies say molecule may improve efficacy of interferon
By Jennifer Lanning Drey
Portland, Ore., Nov. 10 - Maxygen, Inc.'s development partner Roche has started a phase 1a clinical trial for R7025, a next-generation interferon alpha for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, Stuart Pollard, chief scientific officer at Maxygen, said Friday at the ThinkEquity Partners Think Tank Conference in New York.
The trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of R7025, which is also known as Maxy-alpha.
The compound was discovered through a collaboration between Maxygen and Roche, which is based on the theory the interferon component of current HCV treatments can be improved, Julian Symons, head of HCV biology at Roche, said Friday at the conference.
R7025 is a PEGylated interferon alpha variant created through the use of Maxygen's proprietary MolecularBreeding directed molecular evolution technologies, according to a company news release.
"We believe that the Maxygen technology is capable of delivering a molecule that will drive the required enhanced efficacy of interferon," Symons said Friday.
Preclinical data has suggested that the efficacy of interferon can be driven without seriously affecting adverse events, he said.
Preclinical data also suggests that R7025 has an enhanced pharmacokinetic profile and that it retains its activity profile after PEGylation, Pollard said.
The phase 1a clinical trial is a double-blind, dose escalation, controlled study of a single sub-cutaneous administration of the drug in healthy volunteers with both placebo and Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a (40KD)) control groups.
Maxygen is a Redwood City, Calif., pharmaceutical company.
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