1st Patient Treated for Osteoarthritis Knee Pain in Sorrento Resiniferatoxin Phase 1B Trial Meets Both Safety and Efficacy Expectations

Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRNE), announced that the first enrolled patient in the phase 1b study of its non-opioid, afferent nerve ablating drug candidate (resiniferatoxin or “RTX”) for the treatment of pain from osteoarthritis in the knee (intra-articular route of administration) received treatment on July 31, 2018.

As quoted in the press release:

“Joint pain affects over 30 million patients in major markets, half of which suffer from knee osteoarthritis pain¹. A clear unmet need for a single administration long-lasting non-opioid and non-steroidal pain control solution exists for this degenerative joint disease” stated Dr. Jerome Zeldis, Chief Medical Officer for Sorrento. “We believe resiniferatoxin has the potential to adequately address this need and may help limit chronic use of other pain medications including opioids.”

This “Phase 1b double-blind study to assess the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of intra-articular administration of resiniferatoxin (Potent Transient Vanilloid Receptor 1 Ablator, PTVA) versus placebo for the treatment of pain due to moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee,” is expected to continue recruiting until planned 40 patients have been enrolled in up to 5 dose level cohorts or until a maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is reached. The study could be stopped early if a clearly effective dose or a maximum tolerated dose is reached prior to the highest dose scheduled to be received. It is anticipated this trial will be completed within the first half of 2019.

Click here to read the full press release.