Xconomy: Rigel Touts Late-Stage Data for Platelet Drug
Summary
There’s still more to be done before that decision pays off with Rigel’s first approved drug, but the South San Francisco, CA, company claims to have taken a step in that direction this morning.Rigel (NASDAQ: RIGL) said this morning that its experimental drug fostamatinib succeeded in the first of two Phase 3 trials in patients with adult chronic immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), a disease in which the body attacks platelets in the blood needed for clotting and wound healing.In that study, Rigel had enrolled 16 ITP patients who hadn’t responded to at least two other treatments, and found that its drug led to a sustained response in at least half of them.“We believe that fostamatinib has significant commercial potential given that it has a unique mechanism of action that may work where other products have failed,” said Rigel president and CEO Raul Rodriguez, in a statement.Another Rigel drug failed in asthma in 2013 as well, leading the company to restructure and turn its attention to less common disorders like ITP, the kidney disease iGa nephropathy, and a rare form of anemia.