Rigel's R348 fails to meet endpoints in Ph II dry eye study

Clinical-stage US drug developer Rigel Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RIGL) says that R348, its ophthalmic JAK/SYK inhibitor, did not meet the primary or secondary endpoints in a recently completed Phase II clinical study in patients with dry eye disease.

The endpoints were measured by changes in corneal fluorescein staining, conjunctival staining, tear production and dry eye symptom scores from baseline over 12 weeks of treatment versus placebo. No significant adverse events were reported in the trial. Rigel has decided not to initiate any new studies of R348 for this indication, but is continuing its Phase II trial of dry eye in patients with graft versus host disease (GvHD).

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