Cubist's HepeX-B: strong Ph II data

Israeli drugmaker XTL Biopharmaceuticals says that the USA's Cubist Pharmaceuticals has released strong data from a recently-concluded Phase II study of its canddiate treatment for hepatitis B virus, HepeX-B, which it licensed to Cubist in 2004.

In the Phase II evaluation, the agent was studied as maintenance therapy to prevent reinfection with HBV in patients with liver transplants. Liver transplant patients treated with monthly infusions of 20mg or 40mg HepeX-B versus 5000 IU of HBIg showed that those on either dose of HepeX-B experienced no evidence of reinfection. The data also showed fewer and less serious adverse experiences with HepeX-B compared to the HBIg group, although this was not statistically significant given the number of patients in the trial. Cubist says it will review Phase II results with the US Food and Drug Administration early in 2006.