OSI Pharma begins Ph I diabetes trial

New York, USA-based OSI Pharmaceuticals says it has begun a Phase I clinical study of its lead developmental drug PSN010, used in the treatment of diabetes. The compound, which is a glucokinase activator designed to rapidly lower blood glucose levels by increasing its uptake and lowering insulin production, is the second compound to be identified by the company's Prosidion diabetes and obesity business unit.

The trial will be run as a single-center, double-blind Phase I study of PSN010's safety, in a dose-escalating assessment which will establish its tolerability and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The firm says that the data will be used to design the protocol for a Phase II proof-of-concept study.