Cyxone AB (publ) received approvals from the Medical Product Agency (LEPL regulation Agency for Medical and Pharmaceutical Activities) and local Ethics Committees in Georgia to conduct a clinical Phase 2b study with its drug candidate Rabeximod, which is being developed as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). APPRAIS is a multicenter, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical study where patients with moderate to severe RA, who have previously been treated with methotrexate with inadequate response, will be treated with Rabeximod for 24 weeks. The aim of the study is to confirm the therapeutic efficacy of Rabeximod in this patient population, as well as to expand the safety data documentation.

Rabeximod is a well-tolerated, orally available Phase 2 candidate drug with a unique mechanism of action. Rabeximod selectively targets the inflammatory macrophage, a type of white blood cell which is the central orchestrator of the inflammatory process that causes tissue destruction and clinical symptoms in RA. Combined with the convenience of oral administration and a beneficial tolerability profile, this opens up for treatment in the early as well as later stages of the disease.

It is believed to be particularly effective at onset and relapses of RA, with good potential to prevent joint destruction and progression of the disease.