Trubion Announces Initiation of Phase 1 Study of SBI-087 for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Trubion Pharmaceuticals Inc. has announced that its collaboration partner Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of SBI-087, a next-generation drug candidate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

In collaboration with Trubion, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals is developing SBI-087 and other CD20-directed products. SBI-087 for RA builds on Trubion and Wyeth's clinical experience with Trubion's lead compound, TRU-015, and is based on Trubion's Small Modular ImmunoPharmaceutical (SMIP™) technology.

The Phase 1 SBI-087 dose escalation clinical trial is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a single dose of SBI-087 in patients with RA.

Preclinical research suggests that SBI-087, a fully humanized CD20-directed SMIP, has enhanced potency in B-cell depletion in vivo compared with Rituxan. This Phase 1 trial is designed to enroll patients who meet the criteria for RA with Functional Class I, II or III, and who have been diagnosed with RA more than six months prior to the study with onset of RA after the age of 16.

With SBI-087, Trubion's pipeline now includes two differentiated compounds under development for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases: TRU-015 and SBI-087. Trubion and Wyeth are leveraging Trubion's SMIP™ technology to create a portfolio of product candidates with customized mechanisms of action in an effort to optimize patient safety, efficacy and convenience.