PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the company is voluntarily ending its Phase 2b trial of pemziviptadil (PB1046) in PAH due to COVID-19 impacts on manufacturing, associated drug supply and the rate of enrollment in the study. The company will analyze the trial data to determine an appropriate path forward for the program, which depending on the results could include an improved product presentation and simplified product dosing in a subsequent trial. With the suspension of the Phase 2b trial, the company will reprioritize resources and capital towards pre-commercialization activities of bentracimab and the advancement of other pipeline programs, including PB6440 for resistant hypertension. The Phase 2b trial of pemziviptadil, named the VIP trial (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide in adult patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension), had successfully enrolled more than 50% of the study’s target population. Pemziviptadil, a novel, subcutaneously injected VIP analogue, is a recombinant fusion protein composed of VIP and PhaseBio’s proprietary elastin-like polypeptide biopolymer. Based on the pharmacokinetic profile of pemziviptadil observed in PhaseBio clinical trials, the fusion of VIP to ELP results in both a prolonged absorption profile and a longer circulating half-life, enabling once-weekly dosing. Pemziviptadil was in Phase 2 development for the treatment of PAH. To date, pemziviptadil has been administered to more than 100 patients with cardiovascular or cardiopulmonary diseases in five clinical trials conducted in the United States. The FDA has granted pemziviptadil orphan drug designation for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (WHO Group 1 Pulmonary Hypertension) and cardiomyopathy associated with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.