Efficacy & Safety of Resatorvid in Adults With Severe Sepsis

Severe sepsis, defined as sepsis associated with acute organ dysfunction, remains a serious medical problem worldwide. In the United States alone, approximately 750,000 cases of severe sepsis occur each year, with the mortality rate ranging between 30% and 50% for severe sepsis patients with concomitant organ dysfunction. As the population ages, these numbers are expected to increase. The pathophysiology of severe sepsis is thought to involve the activation of a variety of inflammatory and procoagulant host responses to infection, which if unchecked, can lead to diffuse endovascular injury, multi-organ dysfunction, and ultimately death. The host response to infection with microorganism and microorganism-derived molecules is characterized by the synthesis and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukins 1, 6 and 8 (IL-1, IL-6, and IL-8), by inflammatory cells, and by other markers of inflammation such as C-reactive protein. Inflammatory cells, such as macrophages, release these cytokines by signals transmitted from the surface of these cells after binding of pathogen-associated molecules to cell surface pattern recognition receptors known as toll-like receptors. TAK-242 (resatorvid) is a small molecule suppressor of pathogen-induced release of inflammatory cytokines and acts by inhibiting TLR-4 mediated signaling. Because of its inhibitory effect on suppressing cytokine levels, resatorvid is being developed as a treatment for severe sepsis. The study was ended after the DSMB determined there was insufficient cytokine suppression in the 150-subject analysis within Stage 1 of the study.