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- Island Pharmaceuticals (ILA) has brought on ICON Government and Public Health Solutions to support its trial of drug candidate ISLA-101 for dengue fever
- The contract research organisation will help to coordinate, manage and conduct the Prophylactic Examination of an Antiviral in a Dengue Challenge Model (PEACH)
- Island says the two-year agreement allows phase 2a trial preparations to proceed at a rapid pace and it plans to hire ICON GPHS for one or more clinical studies
- The company also announced the appointment of clinical research executive Teresa Byrne as Vice President of Clinical Product Development
- Shares have been trading 5.9 per cent higher at 27 cents each
Australian mid-clinical stage antiviral drug development company Island Pharmaceuticals (ILA) has brought on ICON Government and Public Health Solutions to support its trial of a treatment for dengue fever.
Island’s lead asset is ISLA-101, a drug being repurposed for the prevention and treatment of dengue fever and other mosquito borne diseases.
Through a phase two, randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled study, the company is undertaking a Prophylactic Examination of an Antiviral in a Dengue Challenge model (PEACH).
The clinical trial support services agreement with the contract research organisation, ICON, will commence immediately and is set to continue through until January 31, 2024.
ICON is touted as a provider of full-service clinical development and staffing services across multiple agencies in the US Government, and is a preferred BARDA partner as well as a partner to both multinational public health organisations and global Non-Government Organisations.
Specific to ILA, ICON is said to have expertise in clinical trials including the dengue human infection model that Island will be using in the PEACH study.
ILA’s CEO Dr David Foster said the company is thrilled with the partnership.
“The firm has a solid professional history as a quality CRO and has worked in the field of dengue fever research in the past,” Dr Foster said.
“This agreement allows us to continue moving forward with our Phase 2a trial preparations at a rapid pace.”
The project budget is US$887,590 (A$1.2 million) with each clinical study set forth in one or more work orders. Island said through the agreement, it will be able to hire ICON for one or more clinical studies.
Island has outlined that the scope for the first work order is to coordinate, manage and conduct the PEACH study.
In other news, Island has appointed experienced clinical research executive Teresa Byrne as Vice President of Clinical Product Development.
With over 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, Teresa has been engaged as a consultant to oversee clinical development of Isla-101 in the upcoming PEACH trial and other pipeline programs.
Shares were trading 5.9 per cent higher at 27 cents as of 2:08pm AEDT.
