The opportunity to redefine the treatment of major diseases is what drives everyone at Vertex. Our development portfolio represents the fruit of these efforts. Spend some time here and look around. Click on the pipeline chart to get information on our development programs and links to selected published articles. Go further and see how, just maybe, disease challenges may be overcome with innovation.

VX-509
(Inflammatory Diseases)

VX-509 is a novel Janus kinase 3 (JAK3) inhibitor being investigated for the potential treatment of multiple immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

In in vitro studies, VX-509 has been shown to be greater than 1000-fold more selective for JAK3 compared to non-JAK kinases and approximately 25- to 150-fold more selective for JAK3 compared to other JAK isotypes in cell-based assays.

Results of a Phase 1, 14-day dose-ranging study of VX-509 in healthy volunteers suggested a promising safety profile. In this study, VX-509 showed a dose-dependent and reversible reduction in PSTAT-5, a specific biomarker of JAK3 activity, and a high degree of selectivity for JAK3 over JAK2, consistent with observations from previous in vitro studies.

Vertex is conducting a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial of VX-509, which is expected to enroll approximately 200 patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The company expects to obtain interim clinical data in 2011.