RXi Pharmaceuticals this week said that it has begun formal development of its lead dermal anti-scarring candidate RXI-109, and expects to submit an investigational new drug application for the compound in the second half of the year, with human testing beginning in 2012.
The company also said that it plans to test the safety and efficacy of the drug in the first clinical trial of RXI-109. Specifically, RXi said that it will evaluate the agent's ability to reduce dermal scarring in planned surgeries.
“By evaluating RXI-109's effect on scar formation in this proposed trial, not only will we be able to gather safety and tolerability data, we believe we may also be able to obtain an early histological assessment of clinical efficacy within the first year of initiating this trial,” Pamela Pavco, vice president of pharmaceutical development at RXi, said in a statement.