SIGA Announces Initiation of Phase I Human Clinical Trials of Its Lead Smallpox Drug SIGA-246
Tuesday May 2, 7:50 am ET
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 2006--SIGA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIGA - News) announced today that its lead drug candidate, SIGA-246, has begun Phase I human clinical trials. Based on animal testing to date, SIGA believes that this candidate is a potent therapeutic drug against smallpox. The test will examine the safety and pharmacokinetics of SIGA-246 at different dosages in healthy volunteers. SIGA expects to collect all of the data from this study within the next month.
The Phase I clinical trial is being performed at Advanced Biomedical Research, Inc. Clinical Research Center in Hackensack, NJ. The study is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, ascending single-dose study in healthy volunteers.
SIGA believes that SIGA-246 is the most advanced smallpox treatment currently in development. SIGA-246 represents a new approach to achieve a novel, orally active, antiviral therapeutic. It has demonstrated significant antiviral activity in various animal models of poxvirus disease, including the complete protection of golden ground squirrels from lethal doses of monkeypox virus.
About SIGA Technologies, Inc.
SIGA Technologies is applying viral and bacterial genomics and sophisticated computational modeling in the design and development of novel products for the prevention and treatment of serious infectious diseases, with an emphasis on products for biological warfare defense. SIGA has the potential to become a significant force in the discovery of vaccine and pharmaceutical agents to fight emerging pathogens. SIGA's product development programs emphasize the increasingly serious problem of drug resistant bacteria. In addition to smallpox, SIGA has antiviral programs targeting other Category A viral pathogens, including arenaviruses (Lassa fever, Junin, Machupo, Guanarito, Sabia, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis), dengue virus, and the filoviruses (Ebola and Marburg).
For more information about SIGA, please visit SIGA's Web site at www.siga.com. |
