Larger Trial of Experimental Autism Drug Planned for 2019 at UCSD, UCLA
September 12, 2018
By: Bradley J. Fikes
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
An experimental autism drug will be more extensively tested next year by researchers at UC San Diego, where a small clinical trial showed early signs of effectiveness in 2017.
The trial will be conducted at UCSD and UCLA. It will test the drug on 20 boys, who will get three infusions over three months. Each will be paired with a similar boy in a control group who won’t get the drug, for a total of 40 boys.
It’s tentatively expected that boys from 5 to 15 will take part, said Dr. Robert Naviaux, the UCSD researcher leading the study. The trial focuses on boys because they are far more prone to develop autism than girls. If girls were included, the trial size would have to be doubled, making it prohibitively expensive, he said. But girls are to be included in later testing.