Biogen heart-failure drug does well in trial
CAMBRIDGE -- Drug maker Biogen Idec Inc. said yesterday its midstage study of the drug Adentri showed positive results in heart-failure patients.
The Phase II results showed that giving patients oral Adentri for 10 days, along with standard heart-failure treatment, was well-tolerated and resulted in statistically significant increases in sodium excretion while preserving renal, or kidney, function, said Dr. Barry Ticho, Biogen Idec's senior director of medical research.
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology published the results yesterday on Adentri, which is designed to protect kidney function by raising levels of salt excretion in patients receiving treatment for heart failure.
The company said that in heart-failure patients, it is believed that deteriorating kidney function is caused by pre-existing medical problems and the chronic use of high-dose diuretics. Diuretics help the body get rid of excess water and salt.
In the study, 50 heart-failure patients were kept on their usual medications, including ACE inhibitors and diuretics, and were either given a placebo or Adentri.
The data show that significant increases in salt excretion in patients taking Adentri did not cause significant side effects on renal function, said Dr. Barry H. Greenberg in a press release. Greenberg, who was the primary investigator in the study, is a professor of medicine and director of the Advanced Heart Failure Program at University of California, San Diego Medical Center.
The Cambridge company now plans to move ahead with oral and intravenous forms of Adentri for acute and chronic heart failure, said Ticho, who also was involved in the study, in a statement. He said the drug candidate will likely enter a later Phase II study by the end of 2008.
The National Institutes of Health estimates about 5 million people in the United States have heart failure, which contributes to 300,000 deaths each year.
Adentri is being developed under a licensing agreement with CV Therapeutics Inc., based in Palo Alto, Calif.
Shares of Biogen fell 15 cents to $58.68 in afternoon trading.
