Aerpio Therapeutics doses first patient in AKB-9778 Phase 2 trial for diabetic macular edema treatment
Aerpio Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing innovative therapies for vascular diseases, today announced that it has dosed the first patient in a Phase 2 trial evaluating AKB-9778, a Tie2 activator, alone and in combination with ranibizumab (Lucentis) for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). AKB-9778 is a first-in-class inhibitor of human protein tyrosine phosphatase beta (HPTPβ) that activates the Tie2 pathway to promote vascular stability, preventing abnormal blood vessel growth and vascular leak.