Safety and Tolerability Study of AVID200 in Pts With Diffuse Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with the ability to understand and give written informed consent * Male or female patients, ≥ 18 years * Patients classified as having systemic sclerosis (SSc) with a total ≥ 9 according to the American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) criteria for the classification of SSc * Patients classified as having diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) subset * Patients with \< 5 years since the onset of first SSc manifestations, other than Raynaud's phenomenon, at the time of enrollment * Patients with a MRSS ≥ 15, and with a score that has not decreased by \> 5 points in the past 2 months (8 weeks) * Patients with a skin score ≥ 2 on at least one forearm * Persons of childbearing potential agreeing to use a highly effective, non-hormonal method of contraception during the study Exclusion Criteria: * Women who are pregnant or intending to become pregnant before study, during study or within 3 months after the last dose of study drug; women who are breastfeeding * Patients with any of the following hematologic abnormalities at baseline: * Hemoglobin \< 10.0 g/dL\* * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \< 1,500 per mm3 * Platelet count \< 100,000 per mm3 * Iron, iron binding, and transferrin studies to be performed at screening; patients with documented iron deficiency to receive repletion prior to receiving study drug * Patients with any of the following serum chemistry abnormalities at baseline: * Total bilirubin …