Redwood Pharma announced that it has received approval from the Austrian Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) to initiate the clinical trial of RP501, the company's new drug candidate for first-line treatment of dry eye disease. Following the approval from the Austrian Ethics Commission earlier this month, this is the second and final approval required for the company to begin clinical work. 60 patients will be divided into groups to assess the safety and efficacy in patients with and without contact lenses.

Treatment duration will vary between patient groups where one group will be treated over a month and another over three months. Results of the trial will be used to support a CE-mark, as well as other regulatory market clearances. Furthermore, the results will serve as an important platform in the next commercial phase.

With this approval, Redwood Pharma can begin including patients shortly.