Ohio State opens canine pancreatitis trial for RABI-767: full analysis

Ohio State University has opened a new clinical trial evaluating RABI-767 in dogs with acute pancreatitis, partnering with Lamassu Pets and backing the work with NIH support. In Ohio State’s announcement, the therapy is described as a canine-specific application of a novel treatment aimed at reducing symptoms, complications, and organ failure in a disease that still has no effective targeted therapy in either veterinary or human medicine. (vet.osu.edu)

That framing matters because acute pancreatitis remains a frustrating condition for small animal clinicians: common enough to be familiar, serious enough to drive hospitalization, and still managed largely with supportive care. Ohio State’s trial page says some studies have found mortality as high as 58% in affected dogs, while a recent narrative review similarly emphasized that treatment options remain limited and largely nonspecific, despite continued interest in better diagnostics and therapeutics. (vmc.vet.osu.edu)

The new study appears to sit at the intersection of veterinary clinical need and translational drug development. Ohio State’s news release says the protocol involves a single injection delivered directly around the pancreas, but the active trial listing for pet parents describes a 14-day study in which dogs receive standard medical care plus either IVP, identified as RABI-767, or placebo. That listing also spells out practical enrollment criteria: dogs must show at least two compatible signs such as vomiting, anorexia, lethargy, abdominal pain, or diarrhea; undergo CBC, chemistry, urinalysis, and abdominal ultrasound; and have ultrasound findings consistent with pancreatitis. Dogs are excluded if they recently received several common medication classes, had abdominal surgery within the past month, or have another likely cause of illness. (vet.osu.edu)

There’s also a financial access angle. Ohio State says the study covers required monitoring and recheck diagnostics at no cost, as well as up to $3,000 toward hospitalization, with both investigational treatment and placebo covered by the trial. For referring veterinarians, that may lower one barrier to discussing clinical trial participation with pet parents facing a disease that often requires intensive inpatient care. (vmc.vet.osu.edu)

Outside Ohio State, Lamassu has been positioning RABI-767 as a broader pancreatitis platform. The company says the drug is a lipase inhibitor developed in partnership with Mayo Clinic, and Ohio State’s release says it has shown promise in preclinical models and has already been evaluated for safety in dogs and humans in a phase 1 trial. A federal SBIR award summary adds that the companion-animal trial is meant not only to establish efficacy in spontaneous canine acute pancreatitis, but also to optimize dosing schedules for a phase 2 human clinical trial, reinforcing the One Health rationale behind the work. (vet.osu.edu)

Public expert reaction appears limited so far, but Ohio State and Lamassu are clearly leaning into the translational message. Adam Rudinsky, DVM, said in the university release that the trial could advance veterinary care while improving human health, and Lamassu CEO Gabi Hanna, MD, said canine trial data could help accelerate development of a companion human treatment. Those comments are promotional in nature, but they align with the NIH-backed grant language describing the study as part of a One Health framework. (vet.osu.edu)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the immediate takeaway is that a high-burden internal medicine problem with few disease-specific options is attracting serious translational investment. If the study produces credible efficacy and safety data in client-owned dogs with naturally occurring disease, it could do more than add another investigational therapy to the pipeline; it could also help validate a model in which veterinary patients contribute directly to therapeutic development across species. At the same time, clinicians will want to see the eventual data, not just the concept, especially given how many pancreatitis interventions have historically looked promising before running into the realities of case heterogeneity, timing of presentation, and supportive-care confounders. (vet.osu.edu)

What to watch: The next signals will be whether enrollment moves quickly, whether Ohio State or Lamassu reconciles the public descriptions of delivery and dosing, and whether the trial yields publishable outcomes on hospitalization time, complications, and survival that could justify larger veterinary studies or sharpen the design of the planned human phase 2 program. (vet.osu.edu)