Alexion Initiates Registration Trial Of Eculizumab To Prevent DGF

(RTTNews) - Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALXN) Monday announced the initiation of dosing in a single, multinational, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of eculizumab or Soliris for the prevention of delayed graft function or DGF after kidney transplantation in adult patients who are at increased risk of DGF.

DGF is an early and serious complication of organ transplantation that affects approximately 25 percent, and possibly up to 50 percent, of deceased-donor kidney transplant cases.

It is characterized by the failure of a transplanted organ to function normally immediately following transplantation.

Patients experiencing DGF after a kidney transplant require dialysis in order to survive.

There is an unmet medical need globally for a highly innovative therapy for patients at high risk of developing DGF. There are no approved treatments to prevent DGF after kidney transplantation.

Soliris is currently approved in nearly 50 countries for the treatment of patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and in nearly 40 countries for the treatment of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome - two debilitating, ultra-rare and life-threatening disorders caused by chronic uncontrolled complement activation.