RXi Pharmaceuticals this week announced that it has started a second double-blind phase I study of its RNAi-based anti-scarring compound RXI-109.
Three cohorts of three patients each will be enrolled to receive three intradermal injections of the drug over two weeks. Dose levels range from 2.5 mg to 7.5 mg per injection, and subjects will receive injections of RXI-109 and its delivery vehicle without the RNAi payload at small incisions on separate areas of their abdomen.
Last month, RXi released final results from a single-dose phase I trial of the drug, showing that it was well tolerated in healthy volunteers scheduled to undergo abdominoplasty (GSN 11/15/2012).
“If we can continue at this pace, and assuming no unexpected hurdles, [we] should be able to move into [our] first phase II studies with RXI-109 in the second half of 2013,” RXi President and CEO Geert Cauwenbergh said in a statement.