Acasti Pharma Inc (CVE:ACST) (NASDAQ:ACST) announced Monday that the Canadian government will give the company $750,000 to help further develop its flagship prescription drug candidate CaPre.
In a statement, the biopharmaceutical company said the support from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) will allow it to expand and enhance its production capabilities for CaPre.
The drug is designed to combat severe hypertriglyceridemia, a metabolic condition that contributes to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and pancreatitis.
READ: Acasti Pharma says on track to release new CaPre trial results by end of 2019 after fruitful 1Q
CaPre is an omega-3 phospholipid concentrate derived from krill oil. The new treatment is currently being tested in the third phase of the TRILOGY clinical trials.
“We appreciate the strong support from NRC IRAP since 2015 and we are honored to embark on a new research and development project with them,” said Dr Pierre Lemieux, Acasti’s co-founder and chief operating and scientific officer.
“As we progress toward reporting our TRILOGY topline results, which we anticipate later this year, ramping up our commercial production capabilities is an important next step.”
Both Phase 1 and 2 TRILOGY studies achieved 100% patient randomization, and 68% of the patients have now completed their 6-month plan, Acasti told investors recently.
The Laval, Quebec-based company expects Phase 1 results to be released by December 2019 followed by Phase 2 in January 2020.
Contact the author: [email protected]
Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham
