Alnylam to start Phase 1 trial of RNAi therapeutic
The US Food and Drug Administration has authorised Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc to start enrolling patients in a Phase 1 study of an RNAi therapeutic to treat liver cancers. The compound, ALN-VSP, is designed to target two genes which are critical in the growth and development of cancer: kinesin spindle protein which is required for tumour proliferation and vascular endothelial growth factor, which is required for tumour growth. The proposed study is a multi-center, open label, dose escalation trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of intravenous ALN-VSP in patients with advanced solid tumours with liver involvement