Safety and Efficacy Study of Oral Senicapoc on Allergen Challenge in Atopic Asthmatic Subjects

Based on the unmet medical need for new agents in the treatment of asthma and the role of KCa3.1 in the function of several different cell types involved in the inflammatory response, and the effects seen in an animal model of allergic asthma, it is reasonable to explore the utility of senicapoc, a KCa3.1 blocker, as a novel treatment of asthma. This study will test the ability of senicapoc to alleviate bronchospasm induced by an allergen challenge in patients with allergic asthma. It is analogous to the study performed in animals in which senicapoc demonstrated the ability to reduce airway resistance and hyper-responsiveness induced by airway challenge with antigen and carbachol, respectively. This study is also the first to test the ability of senicapoc to reduce airway inflammation, which is the key pathophysiologic process in asthma. In summary, with a demonstrated safety profile across a wide range of doses in humans and efficacy in an animal model of allergic bronchospasm and hyper-responsiveness, the initiation of exploratory studies of senicapoc for treatment of asthma is justified.