Completion of US Phase II Pat

RNS Number : 3715N

Hutchison China Meditech Limited

17 February 2009

 



Hutchison China MediTech Limited ('Chi-Med')

(AIM: HCM)

Chi-Med Announces Completion of Patient Enrolment in its US Phase II Crohn's Disease Clinical Trial of HMPL-004, its Lead

Anti-Inflammatory Drug Candidate

London: Tuesday, 17 February 2009: Chi-Med, the pharmaceutical and healthcare group, today announces that its wholly-owned drug R&D subsidiary, Hutchison MediPharma Limited ('Hutchison MediPharma'), has completed patient enrolment into its Phase II trial of HMPL-004 in the United States ('US') in patients with active moderate Crohn's Disease ('CD'), a form of inflammatory bowel disease. The last patient, who was screened in late January 2009, has been randomised into the trial per the study protocol at one of its clinical sites in the US. The Phase II CD trial is a multi-centre, double blind and randomised, placebo-controlled study in 100 male and female patients with active moderate CD. The clinical study includes 8 weeks of treatment plus 4 weeks of follow up.  Hutchison MediPharma therefore expects to obtain the CD trial outcomes around the middle of 2009.

Separately, HMPL-004 is currently in a global Phase IIb trial for Ulcerative Colitis ('UC') involving 210 patients with mild-to-moderate UC conditions in which we anticipate finishing patient enrolment by the end of 2009.  

HMPL-004 is an orally active, proprietary botanical product that acts on multiple targets in the pathogenesis of inflammation. It is a compound extracted from a Chinese herb under controlled conditions and its composition is well characterised. The anti-inflammation activity of HMPL-004 was originally identified in cell-based anti-inflammation screening assays at Hutchison MediPharma, and further confirmed in various experimental pharmacology models.  HMPL-004 has also shown encouraging clinical results in a Chinese Phase II proof-of-concept trial in UC patients as reported in 2007.

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Enquiries

Chi-Med Christian Hogg, CEO	Telephone: [phone]
Citigate Dewe Rogerson Anthony Carlisle David Dible	Telephone: [phone] [phone] [phone]

About Chi-Med

Chi-Med is the holding company of a pharmaceutical and healthcare group based primarily in China and was admitted to trading on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in May 2006. It is focused on researching, developing, manufacturing, and selling pharmaceuticals, health supplements and other consumer health and personal care products derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine and botanical ingredients.

Hutchison MediPharma is Chi-Med's wholly-owned drug R&D subsidiary and has at its disposal a team of around 200 scientists and staff focusing on discovery and development of botanical drugs, semi-synthetic natural product drugs, and synthetic single chemical entity drugs. Hutchison MediPharma has a pipeline of single new chemical entity discovery projects in both the auto immune/inflammatory disease and oncology therapeutical areas.

Chi-Med is majority owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited, an international company listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.

 

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