ENROLLMENT OF PHASE I/II HEPATITIS C CLINICAL TRIAL BEGINS

Transition Therapeutics Inc. has announced that patient enrollment has commenced for a Phase I/II clinical trial of its Interferon Enhancing Therapy, HCV-I.E.T. in hepatitis C patients. The goal of this trial is to evaluate the efficacy of HCV-I.E.T. in the 45 percent of hepatitis C patients that do not respond to standard interferon and ribavirin combination therapy and have no treatment options available.

In the Phase I/II clinical trial, 28 hepatitis C patients who have not responded to pegylated interferon and ribavirin, will receive twice-weekly treatments of EMZ702 administered along with standard pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The primary efficacy endpoint will be the reduction of HCV RNA viral load, a clinical endpoint indicative of positive response to therapy.

HCV-I.E.T. combines Transition's interferon enhancer, EMZ702, with the current standard of care for hepatitis C, a combination therapy of pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin.

EMZ702 has an excellent safety profile and the combination of EMZ702 with interferon and ribavirin in surrogate models for hepatitis C has demonstrated a two to three fold increase in anti-viral potency compared to interferon and ribavirin alone. The strong anti-viral response observed in surrogate models has enabled the rapid advancement of HCV-I.E.T. into clinical development with hepatitis C patients.