Business
Rigel Pharmaceuticals Provides Business Update Prior to Investor & Analyst Call
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL) today provided a business update that will be discussed
About this update from Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL) today provided a business update that will be discussed in more detail on the company's investor and analyst call to be held today at 10am Eastern Time / 7am Pacific Time.\n\"This is an exciting time for Rigel with significant advancements in all segments of our business,\" said Raul Rodriguez, Rigel's president and CEO. \"We continue to grow sales of TAVALISSE in the U.S. and are making substantial strides in expanding our pipeline. Our clinical development efforts will be led by our newly appointed chief medical officer, Dr. Wolfgang Dummer. We are excited to leverage his experience and depth of knowledge as we continue to pursue our clinical development goals.\"\nBusiness Update Highlights\nTAVALISSE Revenues IncreasePreliminary estimates indicate that TAVALISSE (fostamatinib disodium hexahydrate) net product sales continued to achieve double digit quarter over quarter growth, increasing 15% to $11.7 million from $10.2 million in the second quarter of 2019. This information is preliminary, has not been audited and is subject to change upon completion of Rigel's closing procedures.\nIRAK1/4 Program Shows Proof-of-Mechanism in HumansRigel completed a Phase 1 clinical trial of R835, an interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 1/4 (IRAK 1/4) inhibitor. In addition to positive tolerability and pharmacokinetic data, R835 showed consistent inhibition of cytokine production in an LPS (lipopolysaccharide) challenge which was designed to gauge the molecule's impact on inflammatory stimulation.\nNew RIP1 Inhibitor ProgramFor the first time today, Rigel announced its new receptor-interacting protein kinase (RIP1) inhibitor program. The lead molecule, R552, has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial. RIP1 is believed to be a key driver of necroptosis which is implicated in a broad range of key inflammatory cellular processes including cell death and cytokine production. \nAppointment of Wolfgang Dummer, MD, PhD as CMOThe Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Wolfgang Dummer, MD, PhD to the role of Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Dummer has more than 20 years of clinical and drug development experience at world class institutions, as well as an extensive academic history. Most recently, he served as Chief Medical Officer at Aridis Pharm...