September 29, 2009 (FinancialWire) — Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN), a leader in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs to combat the most challenging infectious diseases, announced that the company has completed Phase 1a of its ongoing clinical trial of ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection, and has begun dosing HCV-infected patients in the Phase 1b segment of the trial.

ACH-1625 is a potent small molecule inhibitor of HCV protease, an enzyme necessary for viral replication. The drug candidate was discovered and is being advanced by Achillion, with the objective of developing a best-in-class protease inhibitor for treatment of HCV infection featuring potency, safety, tolerability and convenient once-daily dosing.

The Phase 1a/1b clinical trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic profile and antiviral activity of ACH-1625 after single and multiple ascending oral doses in healthy volunteers, and oral repeat doses for 5-days in subjects with hepatitis C infection. The trial is taking place in Europe and is designed to enroll at least 54 subjects, including both healthy volunteers and HCV-infected patients. The trial is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2010.

Subjects in the phase 1a single ascending dose segment of the study received single doses of ACH-1625 ranging from 50 mg to 2000 mg. Subjects in the phase 1a multiple ascending dose segment of the study received 5 days of ACH-1625 up to a maximal dose of 2000 mg per day.

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