4 May 2020

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently announced that it has filed an application in New Zealand to carry out a clinical trial of their therapeutic, ARO-ENaC, which utilises the company’s exclusive technology.

ARO-ENaC targets the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) and is designed to reduce its activity. People with CF have an increased ENaC activity that contributes to airway dehydration and reduced ability for self-clearing of the airways, predisposing people with CF to persistent lung infections, structural damage, and progressive loss of lung function.

Pending clearance, the early stage clinical trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic effects of ARO-ENaC in normal healthy volunteers and evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy in patients with CF. Exploratory objectives in patients with CF include assessing the effects of ARO-ENaC on changes in lung clearance index (LCI) and evaluating changes in forced expiratory volume (FEV1).

ARO-ENaC has the potential to be a therapy regardless of the CF mutation present, which may prove useful in combination with existing or new CFTR-targeted therapies.

Read the full press release here.

We will keep you updated as we get more information.