10:24 AM EST, 01/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Rigel Pharmaceuticals ( RIGL ) said Wednesday that the first patient has been enrolled in a phase 1 trial evaluating fostamatinib, its oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to treat patients with sickle cell disease.

The study is being sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The trial will assess the safety and tolerability of escalating doses of fostamatinib in about 20 patients and explore its potential impact on mechanisms related to red blood cell stability and sickling.

Fostamatinib is currently approved in the US under its marketing name of Tavalisse as a treatment for chronic immune thrombocytopenia in adults.

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