Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX)

[surf1944]

8:09AM Vertex Pharm Announces Results from Phase 2a Trial of VX-809; was well-tolerated at all dose levels when dosed once daily for 28 days (VRTX) 40.49 : Co announces results from a preliminary analysis of data from a 28-day Phase 2a clinical trial of VX-809 in patients with cystic fibrosis who are homozygous for the F508del mutation. VX-809, an oral investigational Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator protein corrector, was well-tolerated across all four dose groups studied. In the trial, VX-809 showed a statistically significant decline in sweat chloride at both the 100 mg and 200 mg once-daily doses, suggesting that the activity of the CFTR protein was increased in patients during dosing. Additionally, VX-809 demonstrated a dose response in change in sweat chloride across the four dose groups. On the basis of these results, Vertex plans to initiate a combination trial of VX-809 and VX-770, an investigational CFTR potentiator, in the second half of 2010. VX-809 and VX-770 were developed with support from Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc., the nonprofit affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.