Altimmune Announces Initiation of RECLAIM Phase 2 Trial Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of Pemvidutide in Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)
May 19 2025 - 7:30AM
Altimmune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALT), a late clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing novel peptide-based
therapeutics for liver and cardiometabolic diseases, today
announced that it has enrolled the first subject in the RECLAIM
Phase 2 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of pemvidutide in
subjects with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Pemvidutide is a novel,
investigational GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist under
development for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated
steatohepatitis (MASH), obesity, AUD and alcohol liver disease
(ALD). IMPACT, a Phase 2b trial of pemvidutide in MASH, is expected
to read out topline data in the second quarter of 2025, and a Phase
2 trial of pemvidutide in ALD is expected to initiate enrollment in
the third quarter of 2025.
RECLAIM is a randomized, placebo-controlled
trial being conducted at approximately 15 sites in the United
States, with Dr. Henry Kranzler, Karl E. Rickels Professor of
Psychiatry and Director, Center for Studies of Addiction at the
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, serving as
the Principal Investigator. The trial is expected to enroll
approximately 100 subjects randomized 1:1 to receive either 2.4 mg
pemvidutide or placebo weekly for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint of
the trial is a change in alcohol consumption, assessed as the
change from baseline in the average number of heavy drinking days
per week at Week 24, with the key secondary endpoints including the
proportion of subjects achieving a 2-level reduction in World
Health Organization (WHO) risk drinking level and the absolute
change from baseline in average levels of phosphatidylethanol
(PEth), a serum biomarker of alcohol intake. An investigational new
drug (IND) application for pemvidutide in AUD was filed in December
2024 and was cleared by FDA in January 2025.
“Over 28 million individuals in the U.S. alone
have AUD, and the lack of effective treatments has resulted in one
of the largest known treatment gaps in this country,” said Dr.
Kranzler. “It has been estimated that less than 10% of patients are
currently receiving treatment for AUD and that 2% or less are being
treated with any of the 3 medications approved for AUD in the US1.
These medications were approved decades ago and have limited
beneficial effects and inadequate compliance rates. Thus, there is
an urgent need for new therapies for AUD.”
“There are compelling data that GLP-1 agents may
reduce the craving for alcohol in addition to reducing food
consumption,” said Scott Harris, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of
Altimmune. “In a preclinical hamster model of free-choice alcohol
intake, pemvidutide demonstrated a greater than 80% reduction in
alcohol preference after the initiation of treatment2. Importantly,
AUD is the precursor for alcohol liver disease (ALD), a disease
characterized by excess liver fat, liver inflammation and fibrosis
with features similar to MASH. In addition, obesity is a major risk
factor for MASH, AUD and ALD, and because excess alcohol is a known
risk factor for hypertension and dyslipidemia, patients with AUD
could benefit further from the metabolic effects of
pemvidutide.”
About Altimmune
Altimmune is a late clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel peptide-based
therapeutics for liver and cardiometabolic diseases. The Company’s
lead program is pemvidutide, a GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist
for the treatment of MASH, obesity, Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and
Alcohol Liver Disease (ALD). For more information, please visit
www.altimmune.com.
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Company Contact:Greg WeaverChief Financial
OfficerPhone: 240-654-1450ir@altimmune.com
Investor Contact:Lee RothBurns McClellanPhone:
646-382-3403lroth@burnsmc.com
Media Contact:Jake RobisonInizio Evoke,
BiotechPhone: 619-849-5383jake.robison@inizioevoke.com
1 SAMHSA 2023 NSDUH Survey 2 Altimmune R&D Day Presentation,
slide #47
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