Ionis' Akcea reports Phase I/IIa data for AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx in hypertriglyceridemia

In October, Akcea Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:AKCA) reported data from a Phase I/IIa trial in about 56 healthy volunteers and patients with hypertriglyceridemia showing that AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx (IONIS-APOCIII-LRx) led to reductions in apolipoprotein C-III (APOCIII; APOC3) protein of up to 84% and reductions in triglycerides of up to 71% at six weeks. Additionally, AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx reduced apolipoprotein B (APOB) levels by up to 30% and increased HDL-C levels by up to 100%. The ligand conjugated antisense version of an oligonucleotide targeting APOCIII was well tolerated with no serious adverse events reported.

The double-blind, Canadian trial is evaluating safety as its primary endpoint and pharmacokinetics as its secondary endpoint...