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Quest Pharmatech INC. announces positive Phase I clinical trial results for cosmetic hair removal application
Quest Pharmatech INC. announces positive Phase I clinical trial results for cosmetic hair removal application.
About this update from Quest Pharmatech Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nEDMONTON, June 20 /CNW/ - Quest PharmaTech Inc. (\"Quest\" or \"the\nCompany\") is pleased to announce that the Phase I clinical trial results from\nits lead product candidate, SL017 Topical Gel, demonstrated the presence of\nthe drug at hair follicles as detected by quantitative fluorescence\nmicroscopy. SL017 fluorescence was detected as early as 30 minutes after\napplication of the gel and the maximum intensity was seen at 60 minutes.\nFollicular localization of the photosensitizer suggests that photodynamic\ntherapy (PDT) with SL017 has potential for cosmetic hair removal.\nThe Phase I clinical trial was designed to study the uptake of the\nphotosensitizer in hair follicles, sebaceous glands and the epidermis after\ntopical administration to the back of 10 patients with acne. It was also\ndesigned to evaluate the safety of the product after such application. The\napplication of SL017 for up to 2 hours under occlusion did not generate any\nadverse drug reaction in the patients and the drug showed satisfactory safety\nprofile. Comparatively low levels of SL017 fluorescence were observed at the\nepidermis indicating that PDT with SL017 should not damage the epidermis, a\nmajor limitation of other topical PDT agents.\n\"Current light based therapies for hair removal can only permanently\ndestroy 70 to 90% of hairs in limited patient populations. The use of\nSL017 PDT for hair removal has the potential to treat a broader patient base\nwith improved efficacy\", commented Dr. Robert Bissonnette, M.D., President of\nInnovaderm Research and Principal Investigator for the current clinical trial.\nThe Company intends to initiate a 40 patient clinical trial, as soon as\npossible, to determine the appropriate light dose to be used with SL017 for\ncosmetic ha ir removal applications.\nThe utility of SL017 for the treatment of acne could not be determined at\nthis point as SL017 fluorescence was not observed in sebaceous glands. Skin\npreparation methods may be needed to induce localization of SL017 in sebaceous\nglands. Additional studies are underway to determine the optimal conditions\nneeded to use SL017 for the treatment of acne. Quest believes that the absence\nof SL017 fluorescence in sebaceous glands combined with the strong presence of\nSL017 in hair follicles and low levels in the epidermis makes the current\nformulatio...