Sarasota company starting new drug trial

SARASOTA — Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc. (symbol: RCPI; recent price: 20 cents), a drug development company focused on chronic inflammatory disorders, announced that the United Kingdom's Medicines Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has approved its clinical trial application.

Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals is planning a phase I study of the firm's anatabine citrate, an anti-inflammatory compound that works differently from most other anti-inflammatory drugs.

The trial will examine both the safety and tolerability of the potential new drug and will also look at the effectiveness of different levels and formulations.

In the first part of the study, 14 test subjects will receive a single dose of six different formulations of the drug with each dose separated by 7 to 14 days. Later in the study, the subjects will receive multiple doses of the drug in different formulations or a placebo.

Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals is working with Quotient Clinical in Ruddington, England, to put together and conduct the study. It is currently scheduled to start in February and run through August.