Lund, January 11, 2016 - Active Biotech (Nasdaq Stockholm: ACTI) today announces that its partner Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, will amend the trial design in a Phase 2 study of laquinimod in Huntington's disease. The amendment consists of dropping the highest of three doses (1.5 mg/day) in the trial while keeping two remaining active doses (0.5 and
1 mg/day) unchanged. This is a precautionary measure in the interest of patient safety being suggested by Teva to the Data Safety Monitory Board (DSMB) for the LEGATO-HD trial.
The DSMB accepted the recommendation after reviewing data which observed cardiovascular incidents in patients receiving the high doses of laquinimod in two multiple sclerosis trials as reported on January 4, 2016. No cardiovascular events have been observed for any dose of the LEGATO-HD trial. Teva will continue in its commitment to study laquinimod in Huntington's disease.
Currently the mechanism of the cardiovascular events in the MS trials remains unknown. Although no specific time-to-event patterns have been identified, cardiovascular risk factors and demographics may play a role.
For further information, please contact:
Tomas Leanderson, President & CEO
Tel +46 46 19 20 95
Hans Kolam, CFO
Tel +46 46 19 20 44
Active Biotech AB
PO Box 724, SE-220 07 Lund
Sweden
Tel: +46 (0)46-19 20 00
Fax: +46 (0)46-19 11 00
Active Biotech AB (publ) (Nasdaq Stockholm: ACTI) is a biotechnology company with focus on neurodegenerative/inflammatory diseases and cancer. Laquinimod, an orally administered small molecule with unique immunomodulatory properties, is in pivotal Phase 3 development for the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Also, laquinimod is in Phase 2 development for the treatment of primary progressive multiple sclerosis and Huntington's disease. Furthermore, commercial activities are conducted for the ISI, ANYARA and paquinimod projects. Please visit www.activebiotech.com for more information.
Active Biotech is obligated to publish the information contained in this press release in accordance with the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was provided to the media for publication at 8:30 am CET on January 11, 2016.