Press Release Source: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
Ligand and Lilly Review Phase 2 Data and Confirm Lilly's Decision to Advance LY519818 into Phase 3 Studies for Type 2 Diabetes
Monday March 1, 6:35 pm ET
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2004--Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: LGND - News) announced today that Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY - News) has made the decision to advance LY519818 into Phase 3 registration studies. LY519818 is a novel, potent, oral, once-daily peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) modulator for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Initiation of the Phase 3 program will follow appropriate consultation with the FDA. LY519818 was discovered through the ongoing research collaboration between Lilly and Ligand.
PPARs are a sub-family of intracellular receptors that regulate glucose and lipid homeostasis. They play a key role in enhancing cellular responses to insulin, and in fat tissue stores and metabolism. Efficacy and safety data from a recently completed blinded, randomized, multi-dose comparator Phase 2 study are expected to be presented at a major scientific meeting this year.
"Lilly's decision to move LY519818, the first of a series of distinct PPAR modulators, into Phase 3 studies is an important milestone toward commercializing products with enhanced activity and broader therapeutic profiles for the treatment of type 2 diabetes," said Andres Negro-Vilar, M.D., Ph.D., Ligand's executive vice president for research and development and chief scientific officer. "Lilly's decision further underscores the productivity of our joint research collaboration and the extraordinary progress we have made together in the field. We have developed a broad platform of compounds with distinct receptor specificity and tissue selectivity for the treatment of diabetes, dyslipidemias, and associated cardiovascular disorders."
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