Ventrus Announces Results From Phase 3 Trial Of VEN 307 In Patients With AF

(RTTNews) - Ventrus Biosciences Inc. (VTUS) announced top line efficacy and safety results from the second Phase 3 clinical trial of Diltiazem Hydrochloride 2% Cream or VEN 307 in patients with pain related to anal fissure or AF.

In this randomized double blind trial comparing diltiazem 2% cream versus placebo cream in 434 subjects in 90 centers globally, both treatment arms demonstrated a clinically meaningful improvement. The diltiazem 2% treatment arm demonstrated no significant improvement compared to placebo in the primary endpoint of average of worst anal pain associated with or following defecation.

The mean of worst AF-related pain score at baseline was 7.09 for diltiazem 2% and 7.18 for placebo, decreasing to 3.81 (-3.28 difference) and 3.72 (-3.46 difference) respectively. Outcomes for the secondary endpoints of overall AF-related pain and PGI-I parallel the primary endpoint. Age, gender, and race were equivalent between arms, and results were not meaningfully different between countries.

The company stated that Adverse events (AEs) were similar for the two treatment arms. Gastrointestinal disorders were the most common with 20.7% of patients in the diltiazem 2% arm versus 21.9% in the placebo arm, substantially less than reported in the first Phase 3 trial. Reports of headaches were 5.1% for diltiazem 2% and 1.9% for placebo. There was one serious adverse event of pregnancy.

In the first pivotal Phase 3 trial, the diltiazem 2% treatment arm demonstrated a statistically significant improvement compared to placebo in the primary endpoint of average of worst anal pain associated with or following defecation.

Inasmuch as a primary purpose of this second Phase 3 trial was to complete the safety data package for a New Drug Application or NDA with the FDA, Ventrus said it will request a pre-NDA FDA meeting to determine next steps in the program. Because diltiazem is approved in oral formulations for the treatment of angina and high blood pressure, VEN 307 is eligible for the FDA's 505(b)2 registration pathway.