The Swedish pharmaceutical development company Adenovir Pharma has started a phase II clinical study for the treatment of an infectious eye disease.

Adenovir has already completed a clinical phase I study among 48 healthy volunteers and showed that the drug candidate is safe and well tolerated. The company is now continuing the development of a pharmaceutical product for the treatment of EKC, epidemic keratoconjunctivitis, and has started a double-blind randomised phase II clinical study at six eye clinics in Sweden and Germany.

“In a global perspective EKC is a very common eye disease with millions of people infected every year. We also see many cases in Sweden. Since there is currently no effective antiviral treatment, we hope this drug candidate can be developed to become the treatment that the patients need,” says doctor Carl-Gustaf Laurell, S:t Erik’s Eye Hospital in Stockholm, and principle investigator for the study.

The study is estimated to be completed in 2014.