Qu Biologics Begins Phase 2 Clinical Trial in Crohn's Disease

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Qu Biologics Inc. (Qu), a Vancouver, Canada-based biopharmaceutical company developing Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSIs), a unique platform of immunotherapies designed to restore innate immune function, is pleased to announce the receipt of a ?No Objection Letter' (NOL) from Health Canada and the initiation of their follow-on Phase 2 clinical trial to study QBECO SSI for treatment of Crohn's disease (CD).  

Patient screening and enrolment will commence shortly at clinical trial sites in Vancouver and New Westminster, the first of 5 clinical trial sites across Canada, to be followed by sites in Vernon, British Columbia and Hamilton, Ontario. The study is designed to confirm the promising findings in Qu's previous Phase 1/2 CD study. The aim will be to determine the optimal time-point to assess QBECO SSI induction of mucosal healing and remission with QBECO treatment in adults with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease. The initial 20-patient stage of the trial will be ?open-label', meaning that all 20 participants will receive QBECO SSI therapy.

Prior to this study, Qu Biologics' QBECO SSI was assessed in two clinical trials in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC), with the following promising results:

• High response and remission rates seen in anti-TNF? naïve CD patients at the Week 8 and Week 16 treatment time-points.CD patients previously treated with anti-TNF? drugs continued to improve through to Week 16 and thus, Week 16 and Week 26 remission induction time-points will be assessed in the current study.
• Identification of specific blood immune markers known to be associated with innate immune activation and gut mucosal healing were found to be correlated with QBECO SSI response/remission in both CD and UC, suggesting that these biomarkers could be used to predict QBECO response in CD and UC.
• The identification of common CD and UC related genotypes with a high likelihood of response to SSI, suggesting that personalized medicine could be applied to CD and UC treatment for the first time, which would be an important advance in the treatment of these diseases.

"We are excited to initiate our next important study in Crohn's disease to confirm the potentially transformative findings of our last study and to prepare the way for future pivotal studies in Crohn's disease," stated Qu's CEO, Dr. Hal Gunn. Jim Pankovich, VP Clinical Operations and Drug Development, added, "Unlike current CD treatments that suppress immune function, QBECO SSI is designed to restore immune function. As such, rather than treating the end result of the disease, we believe that our novel approach, that addresses the underlying cause of the disease, could change the way this challenging disease is treated."

To learn more about this clinical trial, visit www.quibd.com or email [email protected].

About Qu Biologics
Qu Biologics is a Vancouver-based private clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSI), a novel class of immunotherapies. SSIs are designed to stimulate an innate immune response in targeted organs or tissues to reverse the chronic inflammation underlying many conditions including cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, inflammatory lung disease and arthritis. SSIs are a broad platform technology being tested in multiple disease indications, including Health Canada approved clinical trials in lung cancer, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Backed by a prestigious group of scientific advisors and board members, Qu Biologics is led by a management team that includes co-founder and CEO Dr. Hal Gunn, a physician and expert on the body's immune response to chronic disease; and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Simon Sutcliffe, former CEO of the BC Cancer Agency and a distinguished clinician, scientist and leader in cancer control in Canada and internationally.

For more information contact:
Hal Gunn, MD
CEO
Qu Biologics Inc.
Phone: 604 734 1450 
Email: [email protected]
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