INHIBITEX GIVES TRIAL UPDATE FOR VERONATE
Inhibitex has announced updated trial information on its lead drug candidate, Veronate, which it is developing for the prevention of hospital-associated infections in very low-birth-weight infants.
In a Phase II trial of Veronate in premature infants weighing between 500 and 1,250 grams at birth, a higher infection rate was observed in the lower-birth-weight infants. Specifically, a 12 percent S. aureus infection rate was observed in infants that received placebo and weighed between 500 and 900 grams at birth, compared to a 7 percent S. aureus infection rate in the overall placebo cohort. Further, in infants weighing between 500 and 900 grams at birth, a 75 percent relative reduction in S. aureus infections was seen in those neonates that received 750 mg/kg of Veronate as compared to those that received placebo.