Subject death halts clinical trial

A clinical trial for an investigational arthritis drug has been put on hold after a subject in the trial, a bodybuilding father of three with no history of heart problems, suffered two heart attacks and died, the company developing the drug linkurl:announced;http://www.medigene.de/englisch/index_e.php today (July 8). Peter Munro, 48, was participating in a Phase 1 trial for RhuDex, a compound that blocks T-cell activation to prevent inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis, at a clinic outside of Edinburgh. After suffering cardiac arrest just over a week ago, Munro was recovering at home on Saturday when he had another attack and died. Munro was in good health, and "only linkurl:took part in the trials;http://www.the-scientist.com/2008/2/1/38/1/ to clear his debts," his sister told linkurl:The Times.;http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article4289877.ece The family is calling for the clinic to be closed. RhuDex has so far been tested in 80 individuals in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials, and no...