Avidity Biosciences, Inc. announced the Phase 1/2 FORTITUDE(TM) clinical trial of AOC 1020 in adults with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). FSHD is a rare, hereditary muscle-weakening condition marked by life-long, progressive loss of muscle function and causes significant pain, fatigue, and disability. AOC 1020 is the second muscle-targeting small interfering RNA (siRNA) AOC from Avidity's pipeline to advance into clinical development.

Earlier this week, Avidity announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the company's investigational new drug (IND) applications of AOC 1020 for FSHD and AOC 1044 for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) mutations amenable to exon 44 skipping (DMD44). The company has now advanced three programs - DM1, FSHD and DMD44 -- into clinical development in a 14-month period.