Pharmaxis on a roll

Sydney pharmaceutical company Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS) has completed enrolling 600 asthma patients for a phase III trial of its patented asthma prognostic, Aridol.

Aridol has been enrolling asthmatics aged from six years to adult since last January. A dozen Australian hospitals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle and Canberra are involved in the open-label, operator-blinded, randomised crossover trial.

It is one of the only a few phase III trials conducted by an Australian company, and Pharmaxis CEO Dr Alan Robertson says the company expects to release its results in September.

He described the completion of enrolments as a significant milestone in Pharmaxis’ development. A positive outcome would allow the company to apply to Australian and European pharmaceutical regulatory agencies later this year for permission to begin marketing the test in 2005.

Aridol is a patented, inhalable dry powder administered by a hand-held puffer device, which can be used by general practitioners to accurately diagnose the severity of a patient’s asthma, without specialised equipment, and prescribe appropriate medication to manage their problem.

The test can detect the potential for a patient’s lungs to be inflamed by such environmental triggers as exercise, respiratory infections and inhaled allergens, triggering an asthma attack.