Rigel drops another program, moving forward with fostamatinib

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) discontinued development of R333 after twice-daily topical R333 missed the primary endpoint in the Phase II SKINDLE trial to treat discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE). The topical JAK kinase (JAK) and spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor did not improve the proportion of patients with a 50% or greater reduction from baseline in the total combined erythema and scaling score of all treated lesions at week four vs. placebo. The double-blind, North American trial enrolled about 53 patients.

Next half, Rigel plans to start a pair of Phase III trials with fostamatinib, an oral kinase SYK inhibitor, to treat immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Top-line data are expected in 2015. Rigel also expects data from a Phase II trial with R348, another topical JAK and SYK inhibitor, to treat chronic dry eye in 2Q14. In September, Rigel said it would advance either R333 or R348 into Phase III testing after the company discontinued development of R343, an inhaled SYK inhibitor that was in Phase II testing to treat allergic asthma (see BioCentury Extra, Aug. 26). ...