4SC Provides Enrolment Update for Phase IIb Rheumatoid Arthritis Study with Vidofludimus

4SC AG, a drug discovery and development company focused on autoimmune and cancer indications, has announced that the company anticipates reporting preliminary results from its Phase IIb COMPONENT trial in patients with mild to moderate rheumatoid arthritis with vidofludimus, an oral, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD), during the first half of 2011. Patients for this trial are currently being recruited in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic across 29 clinical trial sites.

'We are pleased to announce that to date, we have randomized 153 patients (63% of a targeted total of 244 patients) for the Phase IIb trial in RA with vidofludimus,' said CEO Ulrich Dauer. 'Based on this current recruitment speed and the recent expansion of the number of participating clinical trial centres we expect to present preliminary results in the first half of 2011.’

Vidofludimus is an oral interleukin-17 (IL-17) and DHODH inhibitor which has broad application options in autoimmune diseases. It is currently being evaluated in the COMPONENT study in combination with methotrexate, compared to methotrexate alone, in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Vidofludimus is also being evaluated in a Phase IIa trial in inflammatory bowel disease, which will report results in Q4 of 2010.