BASKING RIDGE, N.J., April 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Regado Biosciences, Inc., a privately held company pioneering the development of antithrombotic aptamers with active control agents, announced today the primary results of the RADAR Phase 2b clinical trial of the company's lead product, the anticoagulation system REG1, at the i2 Summit during the American College of Cardiology 2011 60th Annual Scientific Session & Expo in New Orleans, LA.  REG1 is a two-component system consisting of pegnivacogin, a highly selective Factor IXa (FIXa) inhibitor and anivamersen, its complementary specific active control agent.

The presentation, "A Randomized, Partially-Blinded, Multi-Center, Active-Controlled, Dose-ranging Study Assessing the Safety, Efficacy and Pharmacodynamics of the REG1 Anticoagulation System Compared to Unfractionated Heparin or Low Molecular Weight Heparin in Subjects with Acute Coronary Syndromes: Primary Results of the RADAR Randomized Clinical Trial," was made by Thomas J. Povsic, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Duke University during an i2 Special Session titled "Interventional Featured Clinical Studies I."  

The international Phase 2b RADAR clinical trial was conducted in subjects admitted for ACS-unstable angina and myocardial infarction without ST-segment elevation (UA/NSTEMI) intended for cardiac catheterization within 24 hours.  The objectives of RADAR were to verify that 1 mg/kg of pegnivacogin resulted in near complete FIXa inhibition, to determine the dose of anivamersen which, when followed by immediate arterial sheath removal, results in a bleeding rate lower than heparin and to assess the efficacy of REG1 (based on ischemic event rates) as an anticoagulant system in an invasively managed ACS population.  The primary endpoint of the study was ACUITY bleeding (major and minor) at 30 days.  A secondary endpoint was a composite of death, myocardial infarction (MI), urgent target vessel revascularization (TVR) or recurrent ischemia at 30 days.  

Previously presented data from RADAR (AHA, November 2010) confirmed that pegnivacogin dosed at 1mg/kg reproducibly resulted in near complete inhibition of FIXa in an ACS population.  The latest RADAR results showed that ACUITY major bleeding following immediate sheath removal exhibited a dose response with bleeding rates decreasing with increasing levels of reversal.  Rates of bleeding were lower in the 75% and 100% reversal arms than heparin.  In addition, the incidence of ischemic events was lower in REG1 treated patients compared with those treated with heparin.  

Adverse events (AEs) other than bleeding and ischemic events were rare and evenly distributed among the arms of the study.  Three patients, clustered late in the trial and in Europe, had allergic-like reactions shortly after receiving pegnivacogin.  Characterization of these reactions is ongoing.  

"We are thrilled by the results of RADAR and the groundbreaking advance in anticoagulant therapy that they foretell.  It is now clear that control matters.  REG1 uniquely has shown the promise of simultaneously reducing ischemia and bleeding in comparison to heparin," said Dr. David J. Mazzo, President and CEO of Regado Biosciences, Inc.  He added, "The results of the RADAR trial solidly support Phase 3 development of REG1 in the broader ACS population.  Regado plans to move forward in this indication as well as in a parallel indication of open heart surgery."  

"The Phase 2b RADAR results suggest that high intensity FIXa inhibition with active control may ultimately represent a potential treatment option for addressing both ischemic and bleeding endpoints for patients who require short term anticoagulation in acute care settings," said John H. Alexander, MD, MHS, FACC of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) at Duke University Medical Center and Chair of the Steering Committee for the study.  "For the first time, we've shown that active control of anticoagulation is possible; the hypothesis that this may lead to better ischemic and bleeding outcomes will no doubt be a focus of the REG1 Phase 3 development program."

"Developing a technology that can selectively control anticoagulation has been considered the 'holy grail' for cardiac intervention," said Roxana Mehran, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Research and Clinical Trials at the Zena and Michael A. Weiner Cardiovascular Institute at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.  "For years, it's been the goal of cardiologists and surgeons to discover a more targeted method of controlling anticoagulation for patients undergoing ACS procedures, and the Phase 2b RADAR results exhibit significant promise toward this objective."

ABOUT REGADO BIOSCIENCES

Regado Biosciences, Inc. is a private biopharmaceutical company pioneering a new therapeutic technology with the creation and development of proprietary controllable aptamer drug systems.  Each system comprises a nuclease-stabilized RNA aptamer, the therapeutic effect of which can be reversed partially or completely in real time by its specific and complementary oligonucleotide active control agent. This technology is being applied to injectable antithrombotics (including anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents) in the acute and sub-acute care cardiovascular setting, a multi-billion dollar world-wide market in need of drugs with improved safety profiles and a greater degree of therapeutic control.  The products in Regado's pipeline are designed to act as optimized antithrombotics, uniquely concomitantly minimizing the risk of ischemia and bleeding, and, by allowing patient specific tuning of the desired therapeutic effect, providing a safe and unique approach to personalized medicine.

ABOUT REG1, REG2 and REG3  

Regado's lead program, the anticoagulant system REG1, consists of two parenteral agents both administered by IV bolus, the first being a potent highly selective Factor IXa inhibitor (pegnivacogin, a.k.a. RB006) and the second being its complementary active control agent (anivamersen, a.k.a. RB007).  Anivamersen can be used to selectively completely or partially reverse the anticoagulant effect of pegnivacogin.  REG1, having recently completed phase 2b clinical development (the RADAR trial), is intended for application in arterial thrombosis indications, such as Acute Coronary Syndrome patients undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.  A clinical program in Open Heart Surgery [including coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and valve repair/replacement] is also under development.  REG2, Regado's second product candidate, consists of a subcutaneously administered depot formulation of pegnivacogin paired with the IV bolus formulation of anivamersen.  REG2 recently completed single escalating dose phase 1 clinical testing (the first successful subcutaneous application of an aptamer in humans) and is planned to be studied in a multiple escalating dose clinical trial in 2011.  It is intended for use in venous thrombosis indications such as venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in patients undergoing abdominal surgery.  REG3, Regado's third program, consists of a specific GPVI inhibitor and its active control agent (RB571 and RB515, respectively).  REG3 is planned to enter phase 1 human clinical testing in 2011 and will be indicated for antiplatelet therapy.  Information pertaining to Regado's clinical programs may be obtained at www.clinicaltrials.gov.

ABOUT APTAMERS

Pegnivacogin is a member of a class of compounds called aptamers.  Aptamers are single stranded oligonucleotides that adopt a specific conformation enabling direct, specific inhibition of the targeted protein.   A key unique feature of aptamers derives from the fact that they are formed from nucleic acids.  As such, their pharmacologic activity can be controlled by a matched, complementary oligonucleotide active control agent (the Watson-Crick base pair complement of a fraction of the agent to be controlled), which can bind to the aptamer, removing it from its target and reversing its biologic effects.  Anivamersen is the active control agent of pegnivacogin.  

More information can be found at www.regadobio.com

Contact:  Ellen McDonald, Chief Business Officer, Regado Biosciences,
1-908-580-2113, emcdonald@regadobio.com

Media Contact:
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
1-212-827-0020
Andrew Mielach, amielach@tiberend.com
or
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SOURCE Regado Biosciences, Inc.