Arakis' Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Completes Phase II Trial

Arakis, a biopharmaceutical company focusing on inflammatory disease and oncology adjunctive therapy, recently announced that its treatment for rheumatoid arthritis ("RA"), AD 452, has successfully completed a Phase IIa trial. AD 452 is a novel, small molecule, disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug, designed to reduce joint inflammation and destruction, pain, and preserve mobility.

The trial investigated the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of AD 452 in 99 patients with RA. It was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group, 28-day study in patients who were already receiving methotrexate. The results show that AD 452 was well tolerated at the 3 dose levels tested.