Marlborough-based RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp. , announced Friday what it called successful results of initial testing of its anti-dermal scarring drug, RXI-109, in monkeys, as part of a dose-range finding study to build the company’s ophthalmology business.
RXI-109 targets connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), a gene that can reduce or inhibit scar formation following surgery.
“These remarkable results constitute a major boost to the value of our newly formed ophthalmology franchise,” President and CEO Geert Cauwenbergh said in a statement. “This finding opens up an avenue to possibly develop topical forms of RXI-109 to combat corneal scarring which often occurs secondary to trauma or infection and can lead to visual impairment, including blindness.”
The company said that two Phase 2 clinical trials are underway to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of RXI-109 on outcomes resulting from lower abdominal surgeries and to evaluate the effectiveness and safety in healthy subjects who undergo elective surgical excisions of two similarly sized and placed scars.
