Brief report on a phase I/IIa study to assess the safety, tolerability, and immune response of AGMG0201 in patients with essential hypertension.

We have been developing an angiotensin II vaccine for hypertension. We conducted a placebo-controlled dose escalation study to investigate the safety, tolerability, and immunological responses of this angiotensin II vaccine (AGMG0201). AGMG0201 was administered to participants with mild to moderate hypertension between 18 and 79 years of age.

Combined Analysis of Clinical Data on HGF Gene Therapy to Treat Critical Limb Ischemia in Japan.

Objective: The objective of this combined analysis of data from clinical trials in Japan, using naked plasmid DNA encoding hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), was to document the safety and efficacy of intramuscular HGF gene therapy in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI).

Methods: HGF gene transfer was performed in 22 patients with CLI in a single-center open trial at Osaka University; 39 patients in a randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center phase III trial, 10 patients with Buerger's disease in a multi-center open trial; and 6 patients with CLI in a multi-center open trial using 2 or 3 intramuscular injections of naked HGF plasmid at 2 or 4 mg. Resting pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and wound healing as primary endpoints were evaluated at 12 weeks after the initial injection.