LONDON--27 Nov--PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest Arrow Therapeutics, the London based antiviral drug discovery and development company, has announced that it has initiated a Phase I study of A-831, a small molecule antiviral inhibitor of Hepatitis C infection. The study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of single escalating doses of A-831 in healthy volunteers in the UK. A-831 targets the NS5a protein, a novel mechanism of action, and is the first NS5a inhibitor to enter the clinic. Originating from Arrow's focused chemical library and optimised in-house, A-831 showed good safety and pharmacokinetics in preclinical studies and excellent potency in the replicon assay. A-831 is the first compound from Arrow's broad approach to the NS5a target. A further Arrow compound, also targeting the NS5a protein but of a completely different chemical structure, is expected to enter preclinicaldevelopment shortly. The urgent need for novel Hepatitis C inhibitors has been well documented, with an estimated 170 million sufferers worldwide. The current Standard of Care treatment (Pegylated Interferon + ribavirin) has a poor side effect profile and is only effective in around 50% of patients. As with HIV/AIDS, multiple drugs in combination therapy are likely to be needed to overcome drug resistance. The value of the Hepatitis C market was approximately $2.2 billion in 2005 and is forecast to grow substantially to $4.4 billion in 2010 and $8.8 billion in 2015. "The start of the first clinical trial for a compound from our Hepatitis C programme is a significant milestone for the company," said Ken Powell, CEO of Arrow. "From the inception of Arrow we have been committed to producing potent, innovative inhibitors of Hepatitis C and believe that compounds such as A-831 will bring us a step closer to successfully treating the huge number ofpatients suffering from the virus worldwide. Preclinical results for A-831 have been extremely encouraging and we look forward to this next stage of development for the compound, as well as the advancement of other compounds within our Hepatitis C programmes." Notes to Editors Arrow Therapeutics Arrow Therapeutics was founded in 1998, and is focused exclusively on novel antiviral drug discovery and development. Based in central London with around 55 employees, the product pipeline includes novel antiviral lead and clinical compounds. Arrow's lead programme to treat Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is in Phase lla clinical studies and is partnered with Novartis. The Hepatitis Cprogramme consists of multiple series from different chemical classes. The most advanced compounds inhibit NS5a, a novel viral target. The lead compound, A-831, has now entered Phase I trials (see above). A second series, of completely different chemical structure but also targeting NS5a, is at candidate selection stage. Arrow also has a Hepatitis C polymerase programme inlead optimisation. Compounds will be licensed at stages between preclinical and Phase IIb depending on the therapeutic area. Seed funding of GBP1.5 million was provided by Unibio of London who also invested in the first major funding round completed in July 2000 along with GIMV Belgium (lead), Alta Partners USA, 3i Group London, TVM Munich, and NVM Edinburgh which brought in GBP11.1 million. The same group provided a further GBP7 million in January 2002. The latest funding round was completed in early 2004 raising over GBP23 million from the USA, Japan and Europe. Atlas Venture is now the lead investor. http://www.arrowt.co.uk SOURCE Arrow Therapeutics Ltd CONTACT: Ken Powell, CEO +44-0-20-7015-1002 or Annie Clayton, Investor Relations & Marketing +44-0-20-7015-1004 both of Arrow Therapeutics Ltd Web site: http://www.arrowt.co.uk --Distributed by AsiaNet ( www.asianetnews.net )--