Extended-release tablet manufacture and study announced by Dimerix

Dimerix, a drug discovery company, has announced a manufacturing schedule to start later this month for its extended release tablet of propagermanium, which will be used in the DMX-200 human pharmacokinetic study and Phase IIb trial in chronic kidney disease.

The company’s Phas IIa trial, which was successfully completed earlier this year, used an immediate release version of propagermanium, requiring patients to take the drug three times a day. In the Phase IIb trial, the extended-release tablet and how the drug is processed through the body will be evaluated and patients will only be required to take capsules twice-a-day.

DMX-200 represents the company’s lead drug development programme and is being developed as an adjunct therapy. This approach will see a form of propagermanuim added as a new tablet alongside the existing standard of care blood pressure medication that patients are taking, called irbesartan.

“Physicians have indicated that it is important in a commercial tablet for the dosage form to be taken no more than twice per day as, above this, there is often a dramatic drop off in compliance which can be reflected in poor efficacy of the drug. As a result, our new formulation will be seen as more convenient, should translate to better compliance and thus is likely to have a greater chance of success in the long run,” said Kathy Harrison, CEO of Dimerix. “Developing propagermanium in this extended release format means we can deliver a more convenient dosing regime to patients. It also enables Dimerix to extend its intellectual property portfolio as the drug we are developing has been formulated to reflect the optimal dosing as informed by the recently completed Phase IIa study. This is a significant value adding step for the DMX-200 programme.”