Bridge Biotherapeutics today announced the first patient dosing of BBT-401 in its open label, proof of mechanism study to examine the drug's efficacy and safety in active ulcerative colitis when delivered rectally to the colon (NCT04478825).

The study will include a total of 6 evaluable patients with left-sided active ulcerative colitis at 2 clinical trial sites in Tauranga and Wellington, New Zealand. The participants will be rectally administered with BBT-401 once a day (QD) for 8 weeks. The primary outcome will be assessed via the endoscopic remission rate measured by the Mayo endoscopic subscore and the secondary outcome will be evaluated by the endoscopic response rate defined by the Ulcerative Colitis Endoscopic Index of Severity (UCEIS) score. Other outcome measures will include the clinical remission rate, clinical response rate and the inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire score.

Prior to the initiation of the study, the company announced the analysis of the first cohort study in the BBT-401 phase 2a trial. Based on the observed data, the company decided to progress clinical development with a rectal formulation and a further optimized enteric coating of a new oral formulation. The orally administered proof of clinical principle study, which explores the efficacy and safety of BBT-401 at higher doses compared to the low dose study, has been initiated as a multinational study in the U.S., New Zealand, Poland, the Republic of Korea and Ukraine. The interim data of the medium to high dose study is expected to be disclosed in the first half of 2022.

James Lee, CEO of Bridge Biotherapeutics said, "Through the initiation of a new supplementary study, our team aims to develop a novel treatment option for ulcerative colitis patients with enhanced drug responses," and "along with the trial, we will continue to focus on developing breakthrough medicine for active ulcerative colitis patients."

BBT-401, an experimental drug discovered by SKKU (Sungkyunkwan University) and KRICT (Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology), is a GI-tract restricted small molecule Pellino-1 inhibitor. Bridge Biotherapeutics was licensed the worldwide exclusive right to the compound in 2015 and sublicensed the right in 22 Asian countries to Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in 2018.

About Bridge Biotherapeutics

Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc., based in the Republic of Korea, US, and China, is a publicly-traded clinical-stage biotech company founded in 2015. Bridge Biotherapeutics is engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics, focusing on therapeutic areas with high unmet needs such as ulcerative colitis, fibrotic diseases, and cancers. The company is developing BBT-401, a first-in-class Pellino-1 inhibitor for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, BBT-877, a novel autotaxin inhibitor for the treatment of fibrotic diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and BBT-176, a potent targeted cancer therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with C797S triple EGFR mutations.