The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Ampio Pharmaceuticals' IND, Ampion to treat osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. The company has started treatment of the first fifteen (15) patients in its clinical trial.

Dr Vaughan Clift, Ampio’s chief regulatory officer noted, “We are grateful to the US FDA for suggesting our trial design include a run-in portion to assure an optimized dose. This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial proceeds in two parts. This study design will allow us to present two well-conducted clinical trials for a biologic license application (BLA). The first run-in portion of the trial, designated as the “Spring Study” will evaluate two doses of Ampion in 320 adult patients suffering from moderate to severe OA of the knee. This run-in portion will determine the optimal dosage of Ampion that will be used in the second portion of the pivotal trial. The number of patients required in the second part of the study will be determined based on an analysis of the first part.”

Michael Macaluso, chairman and CEO of Ampio, commented, “We are excited to begin executing this two-part, run-in trial design because it may allow us to determine indications of efficacy with fewer patients. Our principal investigators inform us that the high prevalence of OA of the knee may allow for the completion of both portions of the pivotal trial in an abbreviated time frame.”

Ampion is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory biologic that has the potential to be used in a broad array of inflammatory conditions and autoimmune diseases. One of the active ingredients of Ampion is aspartyl-alanyl diketopiperazine, referred to as DA-DKP, which is derived from the two amino acids from the terminal end of human albumin and appears to have a significant role in the homeostasis of inflammation. Ampion is protected by composition of matter and multiple use and synthetic form patents. Ampio has published a number of studies and articles on the anti-inflammatory activity of DA-DKP.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, and is caused by inflammation of the soft tissue and bony structures of the joint which worsens over time and leads to progressive thinning of articular cartilage, narrowing of the joint space, synovial membrane thickening, osteophyte formation and increased density of subchondral bone. These changes eventually result in chronic pain and disability, and deterioration of the joint despite drug therapy may require eventual surgery of total joint replacement. Current drug treatment for OA of the knee relies on pain control with analgesics, and anti-inflammatory treatment with NSAIDs and intra-articular injections of steroids or hyaluronates. The current drug treatments have been shown to have mixed results and may have significant limitations due to various adverse effects such as gastrointestinal irritation and bleeding.

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the rapid development of therapies to treat prevalent inflammatory conditions for which there are limited treatment options.