La Jolla Pharmaceutical
Company (Nasdaq: LJPC) today announced that it presented three papers
related to Riquent(R) (abetimus sodium), its drug candidate for systemic
lupus erythematosus ("lupus" or "SLE") at the 8th International Congress on
SLE. The first presentation reviewed recently announced safety and interim
antibody data from the current Phase 3 study which highlighted the
definitive and significant dose response observed between the 100 mg, 300
mg and 900 mg doses of Riquent compared with placebo (p=0.0001). The second
presentation reviewed the safety and drug levels of Riquent at doses up to
2400 mg in healthy volunteers and the third, cardiovascular safety in
healthy volunteers.
"These three presentations provide important, additional data that
continue to indicate that Riquent is well tolerated even at much higher
doses," said Deirdre Y. Gillespie, M.D., President and Chief Executive
Officer of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company. "Unlike other medications
currently used to treat lupus that can severely suppress the immune system
and can result in serious infections, Riquent is highly specific and
designed not to suppress the healthy functions of the immune system. We
believe that Riquent has the potential to be highly efficacious and
well-tolerated -- it is designed to specifically target and reduce
antibodies to double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) that are believed to cause
lupus renal disease."
Interim Antibody Data
Michael Tansey, M.D., Ph.D., the Company's Chief Medical Officer,
presented on Thursday, May 24, 2007, a detailed review of the recently
announced interim antibody reduction data from the current international
Phase 3 clinical trial of Riquent in a talk entitled: "Effect of Three
Doses of Abetimus and Placebo on ds-DNA Antibodies in Patients with SLE and
a History of Renal Flare -- An Interim Analysis."
In the talk, Dr. Tansey highlighted data supporting the dose response
observed between the 100 mg, 300 mg and 900 mg doses of Riquent compared
with placebo (p=0.0001). The reductions in median antibody levels between
the Riquent treatment groups and the placebo treatment group at week 8 were
100 mg: 30%; 300 mg: 40%; 900 mg: 58% (p=0.0032, p