Island Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:ILA) has officially commenced screening subjects for the ISLA-101 single ascending dose study.
The company plans to repurpose ISLA-101, a well-established drug, for the prevention and treatment of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases, addressing a significant global health concern.
Crucial step
This single ascending dose study represents a crucial step in repurposing this drug candidate.
Three cohorts of healthy subjects will receive escalating doses of the drug to determine if these doses can safely achieve the required blood concentrations to combat the dengue virus.
Dengue fever, a viral infection transmitted by infected mosquitoes, has seen a staggering increase in reported cases worldwide.
Over the past two decades, cases reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) have surged more than eightfold, with an estimated 390 million dengue virus infections annually.
Ethical approval
Dosing has been given the green light to kick off following the recent approval granted by the Human Research Ethics Committee on November 7, 2023.
The study is being conducted at Scientia Clinical Research's clinical trial facilities in Sydney, New South Wales, overseen by contract research organisation Beyond Drug Development.
“Following on from ethics approval and also our recent site initiation visit, we are delighted to now be one step closer to dosing subjects in this study,” CEO and managing director Dr David Foster said.
“With subject screening underway, we expect first patient dosing to occur imminently and look forward to keeping investors updated on the progress of this important study.”