AtheroNova Inc. announced that its partner, CardioNova, has accomplished first dosing of subjects for its Phase 1b clinical trial with AtheroNova's lead compound, AHRO-001. This Phase 1b trial will be a continuation of the AHRO-001 Phase 1 safety trial completed in February 2014, in which patients were dosed with AHRO-001 for up to three weeks. The company will remain blinded to data from the earlier Phase 1 cohorts until the completion of Phase 1b, at which time the topline data will be presented together in approximately six to eight months.

The Phase 1b study will enroll 48 subjects to assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of AHRO-001 administered orally three times daily in graduated dosing to both statin treated and statin naïve, hypercholesterolemic individuals. The study will evaluate lipid profiles, define gastrointestinal tolerability and pharmacokinetics of graduated dosing for active transport stimulation; as well as the hepatic cholesterol synthesis and pharmacokinetics of co-administration of a statin with AHRO-001 in some of the subjects in the study. AHRO-001 is AtheroNova's first novel application for the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerotic plaque is the primary, underlying cause of heart disease and stroke in industrialized countries. AtheroNova has shown positive results in animal models for regression of plaque and is conducting human studies in pursuit of these same successful results.