Biota Pharma Reports Top-line Data From Laninamivir Octanoate Phase 2 Trial

(RTTNews) - Biota Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BOTA) announced top-line data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm Phase 2 clinical trial comparing the safety and efficacy of a 40 mg and 80 mg dose of laninamivir octanoate to placebo.

As compared to placebo, neither the 40 mg or 80 mg cohort achieved a statistically significant reduction in the median time to alleviation of influenza symptoms as measured by the Flu-iiQ patient-recorded outcome questionnaire, which was the primary endpoint of the study. The median time to alleviation of influenza symptoms was 102.3 hours for the 40 mg cohort and 103.2 hours for the 80 mg cohort, as compared to 104.1 hours for the placebo cohort.

Patients in both the 40 mg and 80 mg cohorts demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in viral shedding on Day 3 of the study compared to placebo as quantified by qRT-PCR. A statistically significant proportion of patients in both the 40 mg and 80 mg cohorts were culture negative on Day 3 of the study as compared to placebo. Influenza-infected patients in the 40 mg cohort also demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of secondary bacterial infections as compared to placebo.

"It is disappointing that the rapid and significant onset of antiviral activity against the influenza virus that the two treatment arms demonstrated with LANI did not translate into a meaningful reduction in the time to alleviate patient-reported influenza symptoms," said Russell Plumb, the company's CEO.

"We expect to complete a full analysis of additional clinical, safety, and pharmacokinetic data forthcoming from this trial over the next several months; however, at this time we do not have any plans to independently advance the development of LANI for the treatment of influenza and intend to evaluate next steps for the LANI program outside of Japan with our partner, Daiichi Sankyo," Russell Plumb said.