Avexa completes “jewel” recruitment

Melbourne’s Avexa has completed recruitment for its multi-centre Phase III trial of its lead candidate apricitabine (ATC) in drug-resistant HIV.

ATC, described by chairman Nathan Drona as the jewel in the company’s portfolio and “perhaps the top clinical jewel in the entire Australian biotech industry” is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, aimed at patients for whom the first line of therapy has failed due to drug resistance.

The first 160 patients for the two-dosage stage of the trial have been recruited, with 300 now signed up. In addition, the 37 patients in its Phase IIb trail have now passed 96 weeks of dosing and no resistance to ATC has so far developed.

Avexa’s CEO Dr Julian Chick told the company’s AGM yesterday that the completion of recruitment would reduce cash burn. Avexa had $23 million in cash at financial year end and Chick forecast cash in hand of $9 million by the end of June, 2009.