RXi Pharmaceuticals said this week that it has begun a phase I trial of its anti-scarring compound RXI-109, marking the start of the company's first ever clinical trial.
RXI-109 uses the company's so-called self-delivering RNAi technology to inhibit connective tissue growth factor, a protein linked to wound healing and other fibrotic processes. The phase I study is examining the compound in surgical patients.
Since it was spun out of CytRx in 2007, RXi has on several occasions failed to meet publicly stated guidance on the start of clinical studies for its various drug candidates. Recently appointed CEO Geert Cauwenbergh, however, told Gene Silencing News last month that he had made the RXI-109 phase I trial a priority (GSN 5/17/2012).