Invion opens phase II trial for chronic bronchitis

Drug development company Invion (ASX:IVX) has begun recruiting patients for its phase II clinical trial to assess the efficacy of nadolol (INV102) in helping smokers quit.

The trial will look at the efficacy of nadolol in patients with chronic bronchitis in improving smoker’s cough and rates of smoking cessation over 10-12 weeks.

Nadolol is a beta blocker, acting to reduce the stress effects of catecholamine hormones such as adrenalin. It is currently used to treat high blood pressure, migraine and chest pain. Invion is repurposing the drug to the treatment of chronic inflammatory lung conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The trial will be conducted at two sites in the US. Dr Albert Rizzo, Chief of Christiana Care’s Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Section and former Chair of the American Lung Association, is principal investigator for the study.

The primary outcome measure will be the change from baseline in the average number of cigarettes smoked per day. The aim is to recruit 136 patients with chronic bronchitis who are enrolled in a validated smoking cessation program.

The chronic bronchitis trial will run in parallel with Invion’s phase II study of nadolol in asthma patients, which is funded by the US National Institutes of Health.

Invion has been issued a patent on the use of nadolol as a method of treating airway diseases.

Invion also recently announced it had begun enrolling patients with lupus in its phase II clinical trial of ala-Cpn10 (INV103).

Invion shares were trading 15.69% higher at $0.059 as of 2 pm on Friday.