Pharmacyclics Releases Data on Antrin Photoangioplasty

BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 3 -- Pharmacyclics Inc. has reported results of Phase I clinical trials of photoangioplasty using injections of Antrin (motexafin lutetium). The company says the data showed the treatment to be safe, well tolerated and clinically active in patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease -- blockages of the arteries in the lower extremities. The findings were presented at the 21st Congress of the European Society of Cardiology.
The study was conducted at the Mid-America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo. and at Stanford University Medical Center. Fifty-one patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease received an intravenous injection of Antrin that accumulated selectively in the diseased portion of the arterial vessels; forty-seven of the patients qualified for the photoangioplasty procedure, which was performed 24 hours after the injection. During the photoangioplasty, Antrin was exposed to and activated by 732-nm light delivered via an optical fiber inserted into the diseased vessel using standard catheterization techniques.