Spago Nanomedical AB (publ) announced that the first patient in the Phase IIa clinical study with SpagoPix in endometriosis, SPAGOPIX-02, has been successfully dosed with the contrast agent SN132D and undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This open label, proof-of-concept study is conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden, and led by Associate Professor Dr. Ligita Jokubkiene. It will evaluate the safety and MRI enhancing properties of the novel intravenous contrast agent SN132D in up to 18 patients with suspected endometriosis.

Comparisons will be made to transvaginal ultrasound and conventional MRI in order to consider the diagnostic potential of SN132D in endometriosis. SN132D in endometriosis Endometriosis is a chronic disease of the female reproductive system in which cells similar to those in the endometrium, the layer of tissue that normally covers the inside of the uterus, grows outside the uterus, causing menstrual pain, pain at defecation and sexual intercourse, chronic pelvic pain and infertility. Like cancer, endometriosis is an angiogenesis-dependent disease that could be targeted by means of optimized functional nanoparticles.

It is estimated that at least 176 million women of reproductive age are affected worldwide and endometriosis accounts for societal healthcare costs of a similar order as diseases such as type 2 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis.