Arrowhead halts development of RNAi-based therapies that use its Ex1 delivery tech

By Dani Bancroft

- Last updated on GMT

iStock/MBPROJEKT_Maciej_Bledowski
iStock/MBPROJEKT_Maciej_Bledowski

Related tags Hepatitis b

Arrowhead has abandoned development of therapies which use its Ex1 delivery vehicle, axing multiple clinical trials and sacking staff.

Following investigation of the drug delivery vehicle Ex1, patient recruitment for Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals’ ongoing ARC-520, ARC-521, and ARC-AAT trials has been halted.

The products in question are RNAi based therapies being examined for chronic Hepatitis B infection (Ph I for ARC-520 & Phase IIb for ARC-521) and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (ARC-AAT).

The decision comes after an investigation into the deaths of non-human primates in a toxicological dosing study of Ex1, reported earlier this month​.

Delivery tech

Ex1 is Arrowhead’s proprietary synthetic dynamic polyconjugate (DPC) iv drug delivery vehicle.

Instead, the firm has announced a switch of development priority from Ex1 to subcutaneous (subQ) and extra-hepatic delivery methods.

In a statement, the firm claims the decision is because it believes there will be a regulatory delay for Ex1. It also claimed its partnership deal with Amgen on some of the other ARC products will not be affected.

The firm’s stocks have dropped over 28% since the investigation announcement on Nov 8, and following as of today 30% of workforce at Arrowhead has also been let go.

Related topics Drug Delivery Delivery technologies

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