Anti-scarring antisense

Excaliard Pharmaceuticals Inc. has only reported the p-values from a Phase II trial of its EXC 001, but since the trial achieved statistical significance without being powered to do so, the company expects the final data will show a robust treatment effect. Indeed, Excaliard thinks its antisense inhibitor of CTGF expression could be more effective than other compounds in development for reducing scars.

Excaliard was spun out of Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2007 to develop EXC 001, an antisense oligonucleotide that inhibits expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) that Isis determined was outside its core focus on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (see BioCentury, Dec. 3, 2007)...