QLT initiates Ph I study of LCA drug

US drug developer QLT has initiated a Phase I safety study in healthy adults of QLT091001, an orally-administered synthetic retinoid replacement therapy for 11-cis-retinal, which is a key biochemical component of the visual retinoid cycle.

The drug is being developed for the potential treatment of Leber's Congenital Amourosis, an inherited progressive degenerative disease that leads to retinal dysfunction and visual impairment beginning at birth.

The open-label, single-center, ascending-dose trial will determine the safety and tolerance of multiple administrations of the synthetic retinoid drug in approximately 18 healthy adult volunteers. Participants will be enrolled in up to six cohorts of increasing doses. The firm expects to report the Phase I data in the first half of next year.