Ascletis Announces First Participants Dosed in U.S. Phase I Clinical Study of ASC50, a Potential Best-in-Class Oral Small Molecule IL-17 Inhibitor for the Treatment of Psoriasis

-  The Phase I trial evaluates the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of ASC50 for the treatment of psoriasis.
-  Preclinical data, including higher oral exposure, longer half-life and strong efficacy, support ASC50 as a potential best-in-class once-daily oral agent for the treatment of psoriasis.

HONG KONG, June 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascletis Pharma Inc. (HKEX: 1672, "Ascletis") announces that the first healthy participants have been dosed in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase I clinical trial in the U.S., evaluating the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of ASC50 (NCT07024602) for the treatment of psoriasis. ASC50 is an in-house discovered and developed oral small molecule inhibitor targeting interleukin-17 (IL-17), an important biologically and commercially validated target for multiple autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis.

The Phase I clinical trial of ASC50 oral tablets, conducted at multiple sites in the U.S., is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, first-in-human study of both healthy participants and patients with mild-to-moderate plaque psoriasis. ASC50 oral tablets are developed in house at Ascletis.

"We are pleased to announce completion of dosing of the first participants ahead of schedule and to begin clinical development of ASC50 for psoriasis." said Jinzi Jason Wu, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ascletis, "We are looking forward to the topline data from this study in the near future."

About Ascletis Pharma Inc.

Ascletis Pharma Inc. is a fully integrated biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of potential best-in-class and first-in-class therapeutics to treat metabolic diseases. Utilizing its proprietary Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Structure-Based Drug Discovery (AISBDD) Platform and Ultra-Long-Acting Platform (ULAP), Ascletis has developed multiple drug candidates in-house, including its lead program, ASC30, a small molecule GLP-1R agonist in development as a once-daily oral tablet and once-monthly subcutaneous injection for weight management. Ascletis is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (1672.HK).

To learn more about Ascletis, please visit www.ascletis.com.

Contact: 

Peter Vozzo

ICR Healthcare

443-231-0505 (U.S.)

[email protected]

Ascletis Pharma Inc. PR and IR teams

+86-181-0650-9129 (China)

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

SOURCE Ascletis Pharma Inc.