E Synthetic Biologics Announces Positive Phase 2 In Irritable Bowel Syndrome

On Wednesday Synthetic Biologics (SYN) announced that they had obtained positive phase 2 results in patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome — IBS. More specifically it is is Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation — IBS-C. The compound that the company is using to treat these patients with IBS-C is known as SYN-010. 

The trial was primarily looking at whether or not SYN-010 could reduce the amount of breath methane at either day 7 or day 28. The results were nothing short of amazing because both doses of SYN-010, 42 mg and 21 mg lowered breath methane at day 28. Only the higher dose of 42 mg improved breath methane at day 7. Although both doses displayed that they can achieve efficacy at the day 28 mark, which is a good treatment cycle for a patient. 

In addition, the 21 mg improved stool frequency for these patients who had severe constipation. The 41 mg saw a reduction in abdominal pain, which is another huge plus. This first phase 2 exploratory trial ran for only 4 weeks, and now some patients have rolled on to a second phase 2 study that will track patients over an 8-week period. The company is in the process of planning the phase 3 trial which should begin enrolling sometime in 2016.