Arena Pharmaceuticals Initiates Patient Dosing in Phase 1B Clinical Trial

Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA) has announced that it has begun patient dosing in a Phase 1b multiple-ascending dose clinical trial for APD371. ADP 371 is a potent agonist of the cannabinoid 2 (CB2) receptor.
According to the press release:

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1b clinical trial will enroll approximately 36 healthy adults to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of multiple-ascending doses of APD371. In a previous single-ascending dose trial, APD371 demonstrated dose responsive exposure over the explored range of 10-400 mg with good tolerability at all doses.
“As with all of our other clinical-stage compounds, APD371 was internally discovered by Arena’s scientists,” said Harry F. Hixson, Jr., Arena’s interim Chief Executive Officer. “This is another demonstration of Arena’s expertise in discovering and developing differentiated drug candidates to address unmet medical needs.”

Click here to read the full press release.