Santaris Pharma is set to release new clinical data results from the miravirsen Phase 2a study to treat Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) 2011 annual meeting.

Miravirsen, which is developed using Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) Drug Platform, is an inhibitor of miR-122, a liver specific microRNA that the Hepatitis C virus requires for replication.

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, ascending multiple-dose Phase 2a study evaluated the safety and tolerability of miravirsen in treatment-naive patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 infection.

The trial demonstrated that miravirsen, a microRNA-targeted drug provided continuous and prolonged anti-viral activity and the patients infected with HCV could tolerat it.

As per the clinical data, miravirsen can be used as a once-weekly treatment for chronic HCV infection.

source;http://clinicaltrials.pharmaceutical-business-review.com