Aridis Announces Agreement with the FDA on Updated Phase 2 Clinical Trial Design for AR-501

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARDS), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel anti-infective therapies to treat life-threatening infections, today announced it has reached an agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to simplify the Company's AR-501 Phase 2 trial design for the treatment of chronic lung infections associated with cystic fibrosis (CF).

After reporting (June 2020) positive Phase 1 safety data in healthy adults who were exposed to a single ascending dose (SAD) or a multiple ascending dose (MAD) regimen, Aridis proposed, and the FDA has now agreed to streamline AR-501's forthcoming Phase 2a clinical trial in CF patients, by removing the SAD and only conducting a MAD regimen. Furthermore, the FDA also concurred with the Company's proposal to expand the originally planned Phase 2a protocol design into a Phase 2a/2b study.  This Phase 2a/2b design will enable seamless and efficient advancement of the study from Phase 2a into Phase 2b using the same clinical study protocol. The data from the Phase 2a will inform the dose selection and sample size expansion to achieve statistical significance in efficacy in Phase 2b.

"The change to an adaptive style clinical trial design is an important milestone for the AR-501 program as it streamlines the regulatory pathway, expedites program timeline, and maximizes overall resources," commented Vu Truong, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Aridis Pharmaceuticals. "We look forward to initiating the Phase 2a trial in the coming months and anticipate completing the study towards the end of 2021."

About AR-501
On June 22, 2020 Aridis reported positive safety data from the healthy subjects portion of its Phase 1/2a clinical trial of an inhaled formulation of gallium citrate being evaluated for the treatment of chronic lung infections associated with cystic fibrosis. There were no reports of serious adverse events and the aerosol treatment was well tolerated. The study was designed to enroll 48 healthy adult volunteers (Phase 1) and 48 cystic fibrosis patients (Phase 2a) from approximately 18 sites in the U.S. Participants were randomized within each cohort in a 3:1 ratio of active drug to placebo.  Subjects were followed for 28 days after last study dose for safety and pharmacokinetics (PK) of inhaled AR-501 in HV subjects. AR-501 or placebo was delivered by a nebulizer device. In the now-completed Phase 1 arm, 48 healthy adults were randomized and treated in 6 cohorts (of 8 subjects each) to receive either a single ascending dose (SAD, Cohorts 1, 2, and 3 [N=24]) or weekly multiple ascending doses (MAD, Cohorts 4, 5, and 6 [N=24]) of active drug at 6.4 mg gallium (Ga⁺³), 20 mg Ga⁺³ and 40 mg Ga⁺³ or placebo. 

AR-501 is being developed in collaboration with the CF Foundation and has been granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD), Fast Track and Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designations by the US FDA. In addition, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted ODD to AR-501. Details of the Phase 1/2a clinical trial, which is a randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled single and multiple dose-ascending trial investigating the safety and PK of inhaled AR-501 in healthy volunteers and efficacy in cystic fibrosis patients with chronic bacterial lung infections, can be viewed on www.clinicaltrials.gov using identifier NCT03669614.

About Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops anti-infectives to be used as add-on treatments to standard-of-care antibiotics. The Company is utilizing its proprietary ʎPEX™ and MabIgX® technology platforms to rapidly identify rare, potent antibody-producing B-cells from patients who have successfully overcome an infection, and to rapidly manufacture monoclonal antibody (mAbs) for therapeutic treatment of critical infections. These mAbs are already of human origin and functionally optimized for high potency by the donor's immune system; hence, they do not require genetic engineering or further optimization to achieve full functionality.

The Company has generated multiple clinical stage mAbs targeting bacteria that cause life-threatening infections such as ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) and hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP), in addition to preclinical stage antiviral mAbs. The use of mAbs as anti-infective treatments represents an innovative therapeutic approach that harnesses the human immune system to fight infections and is designed to overcome the deficiencies associated with the current standard of care which is broad spectrum antibiotics. Such deficiencies include, but are not limited to, increasing drug resistance, short duration of efficacy, disruption of the normal flora of the human microbiome and lack of differentiation among current treatments. The mAb portfolio is complemented by a non-antibiotic novel mechanism small molecule anti-infective candidate being developed to treat lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. The Company's pipeline is highlighted below:

Aridis' Pipeline
AR-301 (VAP). AR-301 is a fully human immunoglobulin 1, or IgG1, mAb currently in Phase 3 clinical development targeting gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) alpha-toxin in VAP patients.

AR-101 (HAP). AR-101 is a fully human immunoglobulin M, or IgM, mAb in Phase 2 clinical development targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) liposaccharides serotype O11, which accounts for approximately 22% of all P. aeruginosa hospital acquired pneumonia cases worldwide.

AR-501 (cystic fibrosis). AR-501 is an inhaled formulation of gallium citrate with broad-spectrum anti-infective activity being developed to treat chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients.  This program is currently in a Phase 1/2a clinical study in healthy volunteers and CF patients.

AR-401 (blood stream infections). AR-401 is a fully human mAb preclinical program aimed at treating infections caused by gram-negative Acinetobacter baumannii.

AR-701 (COVID-19). AR-701 is a mixture of fully human mAbs discovered from convalescent COVID-19 patients that are directed at multiple envelope proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

AR-201 (RSV infection). AR-201 is a fully human IgG1 mAb out-licensed preclinical program aimed at neutralizing diverse clinical isolates of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

For additional information on Aridis Pharmaceuticals, please visit https://aridispharma.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  These statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "forecast," "estimated" and "intend" or other similar terms or expressions that concern Aridis' expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. These forward-looking statements are based on Aridis' current expectations and actual results could differ materially.  There are a number of factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements.  These factors include, but are not limited to, the timing of regulatory submissions, Aridis' ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of its existing product candidates and any other product candidates it may develop, approvals for clinical trials may be delayed or withheld by regulatory agencies, risks relating to the timing and costs of clinical trials, risks associated with obtaining funding from third parties, management and employee operations and execution risks, loss of key personnel, competition, risks related to market acceptance of products, intellectual property risks, risks related to business interruptions, including the outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus, which could seriously harm our financial condition and increase our costs and expenses, risks associated with the uncertainty of future financial results, Aridis' ability to attract collaborators and partners and risks associated with Aridis' reliance on third party organizations.  While the list of factors presented here is considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, market conditions and the factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" in Aridis' 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and Aridis' other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date hereof, and Aridis does not undertake any obligation to update publicly such statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Contact:

Investor Relations
Jason Wong
Blueprint Life Science Group
[email protected]
(415) 375-3340 Ext. 4

SOURCE Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aridispharma.com