Epix Pharmaceuticals has resolved patient accrual issues that had slowed progress in its Phase IIa clinical trial for its investigational fibrin-binding imaging agent, EP-2104R. The company now expects to close enrollment earlier than it had most recently projected, and expects to complete full enrollment of 48 patients in the first quarter of 2006.

The open-label study has shown encouraging images, particularly in the carotid artery cohort of patients, which may be indicative of EP-2104R's potential utility for identifying patients at risk of stroke. To date, the drug appears to have been well-tolerated in the study population.