Business
Rigel Announces First Patients Enrolled in NIH/NHLBI-Sponsored Trial of Fostamatinib in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in Collaboration with Inova
Trial being conducted at NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 9, 2020
About this update from Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Trial being conducted at NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia\n\n\nSOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL) today announced enrollment of the first patients in a multicenter, Phase 2 trial to evaluate the safety of fostamatinib, Rigel's oral spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor, for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The study is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in collaboration with Inova® Health System. Fostamatinib, marketed in the U.S. as TAVALISSE® (fostamatinib disodium hexahydrate) tablets, is approved in the U.S. and Europe as a treatment for adult chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).\n\"As mortality continues to rise, it is evident that new therapeutics selectively targeting immune response are desperately needed to treat patients infected with SARS-CoV-2,\" stated Dr. Richard Childs, M.D., clinical director of the NHLBI. \"This is a rigorously-designed clinical trial, which should provide insight into the potential safety and efficacy of fostamatinib in the treatment of severely ill patients suffering from COVID-19.\"\nThe clinical trial is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, the nation's largest hospital devoted entirely to clinical research, and Inova Fairfax Hospital. \n\"We are very excited to be a part of this clinical trial with the NIH/NHLBI and Rigel. This study fits seamlessly within our portfolio of research options that we have within the Inova Health System to offer our COVID-19 population,\" said Dr. Steven Nathan M.D., medical director, Advanced Lung Disease & Lung Transplant Program, at Inova. \"Research into novel compounds is a key component in finding therapeutic options for COVID-19 patients, and with the first patients enrolled, we are one step closer to understanding the potential of fostamatinib and SYK inhibition in this disease.\"\nThis is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the safety of fostamatinib for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The study will randomly assign fostamatinib or matched placebo (1:1) to approximately 60 evaluable patients who are a 5 to 7 on the 8-point ordinal scale (requiring supplemental oxygen ...