On March 12, 2018 Enzo Biochem Inc. (NYSE:ENZ) reported results for the fiscal quarter and six months ended January 31, 2018 (Press release, Enzo Biochem, MAR 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234524673]).

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Quarter Highlights (Year over Year)

Total revenues for the second fiscal quarter increased to $27.0 million, or 3%, from $26.3 million in the prior year period.

Clinical Lab revenues for the quarter totaled $19.5 million, an increase of 4% over the prior year period, despite severe weather impacting operations. Enzo Life Sciences revenue was $7.4 million, unchanged over the year ago.
· Gross margins were 42% in the current year quarter, lower than 44% in the prior year period due to adverse weather noted above and lower genomic product sales.
· Heavier than usual increased legal expenses of $1.7 million resulted in an operating loss of ($3.1) million compared to ($1.0) million a year ago.
· GAAP net loss declined to ($0.9) million or ($0.02) per share, compared to ($1.0) million or ($0.02) per share a year ago, and for six months amounted to ($1.6) million or ($0.03) per share, compared to ($2.5) million or ($0.05) per share, a $0.9 million improvement.
· Total cash and cash equivalents at January 31, 2018 was $64.5 million, an increase of $0.3 million from July 31, 2017, and consolidated cash flow from operations was $0.8 million for the six months ended January 31, 2018, an increase of $3.7 million over the prior year period. Working capital stands at nearly $70 million as of January 31, 2018.
· During the quarter, the Company fully integrated and validated its AmpiProbe platform for use in its laboratory which is expected to result in significant savings in the cost of laboratory services in future periods.
· Interest in Enzo’s now completed 13-analyte women’s diagnostics health panel continues to mount, reinforcing build-up of physician servicing network in northeast service territory.
· In addition to continued emphasis on product development, the quarter’s activity was focused on increased marketing, including additions to and training of our sales staff, and appearances at major industry conferences and meetings to promote the Company’s highly efficient, higher margin molecular diagnostic test alternatives to profit-squeezed independent labs.

Barry Weiner, President, Comments

"The second fiscal quarter of 2018 has been an especially productive period. While we continued to gain ground with our AmpiProbe products and other New York State Department of Health approved diagnostics designed to allay cost pressures affecting the nation’s independent clinical laboratories, severe winter weather cut into our clinical laboratory operations revenues. In addition, in anticipation of a trial in New York’s Federal Southern District in litigation with Roche, following a favorable Markman patent-related decision by the court for Enzo, stepped-up depositions involving extensive expert testimony resulted in a substantial increase in litigation expenses. This case involves both patent and contract issues.

"Total revenues continue to grow, with Clinical Labs quarterly results improving year over year despite the harsh weather that affected operations of approximately two days resulting in lost revenues. Product revenues at Life Sciences also advanced, underscoring the benefits starting to derive from our strategic program to increase both services and product revenues. Our financial position and balance sheet remain strong providing the necessary capital from positive cash flow to grow organically and make long term capital investments.

"The expected new reduced PAMA Medicare reimbursements took effect in January further enforcing our strategy in helping laboratories to improve their margin utilizing our program of low cost products and services. Our focus remains on serving independent labs as an integrated, growth-oriented molecular diagnostics company, and a low-cost medically related assay provider and reference service organization. Put simply, with our current approved platforms and assays and those in our pipeline, we expect to be a lead supplier of affordable and reliable diagnostic testing either by product or service. Towards that end, we are diligently expanding and investing in our marketing program directed at independent labs and hospitals. The superior effectiveness and utility of our products that are compatible with existing in-house diagnostic systems has been demonstrated in various studies. We will adhere to those high standards of sensitivity and economy as we build our comprehensive testing line-up moving forward."

Second Quarter Results

The quarter’s total revenues amounted to approximately $27 million, compared to $26.3 million a year ago, an increase of 3%. Gross profit was $11.3 million or 42% of total revenue. Total operating expenses were $14.4 million and included selling and general and administrative expenses of $11.1 million, or 41% of revenue.

As noted, a favorable Markman decision in our New York litigation with Roche resulted in a significant increase in litigation expenditures to $1.7 million, compared with $370,000 a year ago. After slightly higher interest income, a foreign currency gain, and a $1.1 million tax benefit attributable to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, GAAP net loss amounted to $(0.9) million, or $(0.02) per share, compared to the year ago GAAP net loss of $(1.1) million or $(0.02) per share. Adjusted net loss amounted to $(2.0) million or $(0.04) per share compared to Adjusted net loss of $(1.1) million or $(0.02) per share a year ago. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and Adjusted EBITDA were

both a loss of ($1.4) million, compared to ($0.2) million in the prior year period due largely to increased legal expenses.

As of January 31, 2018, cash and cash equivalents were $64.5 million with working capital of nearly $70 million. Cash flow from operations for the six months was $0.8 million, an increase of $3.7 million over the prior year period.

First Half Results

Total revenues were $54.6 million or 4% higher than prior year. Gross profit totaled $23.6 million, compared to $23.8 million a year ago, with gross margins of 43% and 45%, respectively. SG&A of $22.0 million increased $0.7 million, but as a percentage of sales declined to 40% from 43% a year ago. With legal expenses increasing to $2.1 million, from $0.7 million a year ago, the operating loss amounted to ($3.7) million, compared with ($2.2) million. The six month GAAP net loss totaled ($1.5) million, or ($0.03) per share, down from ($2.5) million, or ($0.05) per share, a 38% improvement.

Segment Results – Quarter

Enzo Clinical Labs revenues were $19.5 million, an increase of 4%, from $18.8 million in the prior year. The increase in revenue was offset in part by adverse winter weather and a severe Flu season in the Northeast that essentially curtailed patient visits to physicians and clinics by approximately two days during the quarter, consequently reducing the number of tests submitted and processed. As a result, gross margins were 40%, compared to 41% in the prior year period. SG&A increased approximately $210,000 due to headcount and costs in client and billing services, but as a percentage of revenues remained at 31%. Operating income was $0.9 million, versus $1.2 million in the prior year period. Enzo Life Sciences revenues were $7.4 million, unchanged over the year ago.

Gross profit equaled 48% compared to 53% a year ago due to lower genomic product sales and a decline in royalty income. SG&A remained flat at approximately $2.9 million, though as a percentage of revenues declined 10 basis points to 39%. Operating income amounted to $51,000, versus $381,000 a year ago due to lower margins on product sales.

Conference Call

The Company will conduct a conference call Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 8:30 AM ET. The call can be accessed by dialing 1-888-459-5609. International callers can dial 1-973-321-1024. Please reference PIN number 9386236.

Interested parties may also listen over the Internet at: View Source

To listen to the live call on the Internet, please go to the web site at least fifteen minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available approximately two hours after the end of the live call, through midnight (ET) on March 27, 2018. The replay of the conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-855-859-2056, and when prompted, use PIN number 9386236. International callers can dial 1-404-537-3406, using the same PIN number.
ADJUSTED Financial Measures

To comply with Regulation G promulgated pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Enzo Biochem attached to this news release and will post to the Company’s investor relations web site (www.enzo.com) any reconciliation of differences between GAAP and Adjusted financial information that may be required in connection with issuing the Company’s quarterly financial results.

The Company uses EBITDA as a measure of performance to demonstrate earnings exclusive of interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjustments to EBITDA are for items of a non-recurring nature and are reconciled on the table provided. The Company manages its business based on its operating cash flows. The Company, in its daily management of its business affairs and analysis of its monthly, quarterly and annual performance, makes its decisions based on cash flows, not on the amortization of assets obtained through historical activities. The Company, in managing its current and future affairs, cannot affect the amortization of the intangible assets to any material degree, and therefore uses EBITDA as its primary management guide. Since an outside investor may base its evaluation of the Company’s performance based on the Company’s net loss not its cash flows, there is a limitation to the EBITDA measurement. EBITDA is not, and should not be considered, an alternative to net loss, loss from operations, or any other measure for determining operating performance of liquidity, as determined under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP). The most directly comparable GAAP reference in the Company’s case is the removal of interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

We refer you to the tables attached to this press release which includes reconciliation tables of GAAP to Adjusted net income (loss) and EBITDA to Adjusted EBITDA.

On March 12, 2018 Immutep Limited (ASX: IMM; NASDAQ: IMMP) ("Immutep" or the "Company") has reported that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada), through a subsidiary, to evaluate the combination of Immutep’s lead immunotherapy product candidate eftilagimod alpha ("efti" or "IMP321") with MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in a new clinical trial that will evaluate the combination in several different solid tumours (Press release, Immutep, MAR 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234524702]).

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The planned Phase II clinical trial, referred to as TACTI-002 (Two ACTive Immunotherapies), will evaluate the safety and efficacy of this novel immunotherapy combination in patients with non-small cell lung cancer ("NSCLC"), head and neck cancer, or ovarian cancer. The TACTI-002 clinical trial will be a Phase II, Simon two-stage, non-comparative, open-label, single-arm, multicentre clinical study. Up to 120 patients across the three indications are planned to be treated in medical centres in Europe and the United States with the trial expected to commence in the second half of 2018.

"We are extremely pleased to be collaborating with MSD, one of the world’s leading immuno-oncology companies" said Marc Voigt, CEO of Immutep. "This clinical trial will evaluate a novel combination of two complementary immuno-oncology treatments in three cancer indications simultaneously, which could lead to more rapid drug development subject to successful outcomes. The data generated thus far from our ongoing TACTI-mel clinical trial has supported our hypothesis that there is a compelling therapeutic synergy in administering efti in combination with another immuno-oncology treatment. This new Phase II clinical trial significantly builds on the momentum we are delivering in the evaluation of efti in cancer, with two Phase I clinical trials and now two Phase II clinical trials in our program for 2018."

The trial combines two immuno-oncology treatments with complementary mechanisms of action, analogous to releasing the brakes and pushing the accelerator of the body’s immune system at two different positions in the cancer immunity cycle. Immutep’s efti is a first-in-class antigen presenting cell ("APC") activator which stimulates cancer-fighting T cells, while KEYTRUDA is an anti-PD-1 therapy that works by increasing the ability of the body’s immune system to help detect and fight tumor cells.

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On March 12, 2018 ERYTECH Pharma (Euronext: ERYP – Nasdaq: ERYP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies by encapsulating therapeutic drug substances inside red blood cells, reported its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2017 (Press release, ERYtech Pharma, MAR 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234524674]).

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"2017 was a transformative year for ERYTECH with the achievement of a number of important clinical, regulatory and financial objectives," said Gil Beyen, Chairman and CEO of ERYTECH. "We are extremely pleased with the positive outcome of our Phase 2b trial of eryaspase in second-line metastatic pancreatic cancer and the success of our two financing operations, which generated gross proceeds of approximately $226 million, and our resulting dual listing on Nasdaq and Euronext Paris. With the proceeds of these transactions, we believe we are well capitalized to advance our pipeline programs, most notably the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of eryaspase for the treatment of second-line metastatic pancreatic cancer. We met with the FDA to discuss the proposed design of this trial and also obtained similar feedback from the CHMP. We are also exploring the launch of proof of concept studies in first-line pancreatic cancer, and other solid tumor indications, beginning with triple negative breast cancer. Lastly, we resubmitted our MAA for potential approval of eryaspase (GRASPA) for the treatment of relapsed and refractory ALL in Europe. We expect our momentum to continue as we progress towards potential approval in ALL, and anticipate significant advances from other clinical and preclinical research programs in our pipeline."

Full Year and Recent Business Highlights

• In September 2017, ERYTECH reported the full data set from its open-label, multi-center, randomized Phase 2b trial evaluating eryaspase in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of second-line metastatic pancreatic cancer. In the trial, patients treated with eryaspase achieved significant improvement in both overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).

• The company is now preparing for the launch of a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in this same indication in the United States and Europe. Feedback on the design of the trial was obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Commission for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The proposed Phase 3 trial will evaluate eryaspase in combination with standard chemotherapy, compared to standard chemotherapy alone, in approximately 500 patients in the United States and Europe. The primary endpoint will be overall survival (OS). Enrollment of the first patient in this trial is expected in the third quarter of 2018.

• ERYTECH is also broadening the scope of eryaspase to first-line pancreatic cancer, as well as to other solid tumor indications. Recently, the company announced the selection of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) as the next target indication for expanding the potential treatment scope of eryaspase. ERYTECH is preparing a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial for this indication and expects to enroll the first patient in this trial in the third quarter of 2018.

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• In October 2017, ERYTECH resubmitted its MAA for eryaspase (GRASPA) for the treatment of relapsed and refractory (R/R) ALL. The MAA resubmission includes the Phase 2/3 clinical trial data from children and adults with R/R ALL as well as additional data to address the outstanding questions of the CHMP. CHMP feedback is expected by the end of 2018.

• In October 2017, the company also identified the recommended dosing from its open-label, dose escalation Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the safety of eryaspase in combination with chemotherapy for first-line treatment of adult ALL patients, conducted at five clinical sites across the United States. The steering committee reviewed the safety data of the three treatment cohorts and approved further development at a dose level of 100 U/kg. Based on these data and the clinical results obtained in Europe, the company is preparing to discuss next steps for its development in ALL with the FDA in the second quarter of this year.

• In December 2017, the company announced topline results from the Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating eryaspase for the treatment of AML. The open-label, randomized, multi-center clinical trial enrolled a total of 123 patients at 30 European sites. The trial did not meet its primary endpoint of OS. Patient selection is likely the most important factor: the median age of patients in the trial was 78 years, and the median duration of treatment was 5-6 weeks in both treatment arms.

• Throughout 2017, the company also advanced its preclinical pipeline programs:

• In spring 2017, the company presented preclinical data on its erymethionase product candidate at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting. Based on these preclinical studies, the company believes that erymethionase represents a promising new treatment approach against a broad range of cancers that rely on methionine metabolism.

• In September 2017, ERYTECH presented early preclinical data on its eryminase and erymethionase programs at the 13th International Congress of Inborn Errors of Metabolism (ICIEM). The findings from the research on eryminase, consisting of arginine deiminase encapsulated in red blood cells, showed a decrease in arginine levels in a disease model of arginase-1 deficiency, supporting a potential treatment approach for hyperargininemia. This study was conducted in collaboration with Queen’s University in Canada. The company’s preclinical data involving erymethionase, which is methionine- g-lyase encapsulated in red blood cells, showed lower homocysteine levels, supporting a potential treatment approach for homocystinuria. This study was conducted through a research collaboration with the Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC).

• ERYTECH also continues to explore its ERYMMUNE program, in which it intends to use its proprietary ERYCAPS platform to encapsulate tumor antigens within red blood cells as a potentially innovative approach to cancer immunotherapy. Preclinical proof-of-concept studies of ERYMMUNE are ongoing.
Full Year 2017 Financial Results

• ERYTECH’s key financial figures for the full year of 2017 compared with the same period of the previous year are summarized below:

In thousands of euros FY 2017 FY 2016
Revenues

— —
Other income

3,364 4,138

Total operating income

3,364 4,138

Research and development

(25,463 ) (19,720 )
General and administrative

(8,791 ) (6,808 )
Total operating expenses

(34,254 ) (26,528 )

Total operating loss

(30,889 ) (22,390 )

Financial income

539 558
Financial expenses

(3,183 ) (70 )
Financial income (loss)

(2,644 ) 488

Loss before tax

(33,533 ) (21,902 )

Income tax

3 (10 )

Net loss

(33,530 ) (21,913 )

Net loss for the full year 2017 was €33.5 million, compared to €21.9 million in 2016. The €11.6 million increase was primarily attributable to the increase in clinical and regulatory development expenses, related to the company’s ongoing clinical programs in ALL, AML and pancreatic cancer, the continuation of its regulatory initiatives in Europe and preparatory work related to additional clinical programs. R&D expenses also comprise pre-clinical developments on additional product candidates and the broadening of the ERYCAPS platform to include the potential development of immune therapies and enzyme-related therapies.

R&D expenses increased by €5.7 million. The increase included additional expenses in external provider services in relation with the company’s intensified clinical and regulatory activities, as well as the additional staffing for preclinical research and clinical development.

G&A expenses increased by €2.0 million, as a result of infrastructure developments to sustain the company’s growth.

Operating income decreased by €0.8 million, reflecting primarily a decrease in research tax credits.

The €2.6 million financial loss in 2017 was impacted by a €3.0 million currency exchange variation on the company’s cash position denominated in U.S. dollars and consolidated in euros.

•In April 2017, ERYTECH completed a €70.5 million ($82 million) private placement in which it issued 3,000,000 new ordinary shares.

•In November 2017, ERYTECH completed a global offering of its ordinary shares (including in the form of American Depositary Shares or ADSs) in the United States and Europe, with gross proceeds of approximately €124 million ($144 million). The offering resulted in the issuance of a total of 5,374,033 new ordinary shares, comprising 4,686,106 ADSs, at an offering price of $23.26 per ADS in the United States and 687,927 ordinary shares through a concurrent private placement in Europe and other countries outside of the United States and Canada at a price of €20.00 per ordinary share. Each ADS represents the right to receive one ordinary share. The underwriters exercised their overallotment option in full to purchase 702,915 additional ADSs and 103,189 additional ordinary shares in the global offering. Upon the consummation of the global offering, ERYTECH’s ADSs began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on November 10, 2017.

•As of December 31, 2017, ERYTECH had cash and cash equivalents totaling €185.5 million (approximately $223 million), compared with €37.6 million on December 31, 2016. The net cash increase of €147.9 million was primarily the result of €177.4 million in net proceeds from the company’s financing activities in April and November 2017. Excluding the financing rounds, total cash utilization in 2017 was €26.4 million, comprised of a €24.7 million net cash utilization in operating activities and €1.7 million in capital expenditures.
Key News Flow and Milestones Expected over Next 12 Months

•Meeting with the FDA to discuss next steps in ALL

•Initiation of a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in second-line pancreatic cancer in Europe and the United States

•Initiation of a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial in first-line pancreatic cancer

•Initiation of a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial in TNBC

•Advance U.S. registration-directed activities for ALL

•CHMP feedback on MAA resubmission for GRASPA in R/R ALL

•Initiation of Phase 1 clinical trial with erymethionase

•Updates on preclinical pipeline programs

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Full Year Results 2017 Conference Call Details

As a reminder, ERYTECH management will hold a conference call and webcast on Tuesday, March 13th, 2018 at 01:30pm CET / 08:30am EDT to business highlights and full year 2017 financials. Gil Beyen, Chairman and CEO, Eric Soyer, CFO and COO and Iman El-Hariry, CMO will deliver a brief presentation, followed by a Q&A session.

The call is accessible via the below teleconferencing numbers, followed by the Conference ID#: 7997444#:

USA: +1 8338186807 United-Kingdom: +44 02031070289
Switzerland: +080 0836508 Germany: +49 06922224728
France: +33 0176748988 Belgium: +32 024003547
Sweden: +46 0856619361 Finland: +358 0972519310
Netherlands: +31 0207075547 Spain: +34 914142503
The webcast can be followed live online via the link: View Source

An archived replay of the call will be available for 7 days by dialing (US & Canada): +1 833 818 6807, (UK): +44(0) 203 107 0289, (France): +33(0)1 726 74 89 88, (Spain): +34 91412503, Conference ID # 7997444#

An archive of the webcast will be available on ERYTECH’s website, under the "Investors" section at investors.erytech.com

2018 Financial Calendar:

General Assembly Meeting of Shareholders: Friday, June 22, 2018 at 10:00am CET in Paris

Quarterly financial updates:

Business Update and Financial Highlights for the 1st quarter of 2018: May 14, 2018 (after U.S. market close), followed by a conference call and webcast on May 15, 2018 (2:30pm CET/8:30am ET)

Business Update and Financial Highlights for the 2nd quarter and first-half of 2018: September 17, 2018 (after U.S. market close), followed by a conference call and webcast on September 18, 2018 (2:30pm CET/8:30am ET)

On March 12, 2018 Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of precision genetic medicine to treat rare neuromuscular diseases, reported that it recently received final minutes from a February 2018 Type C meeting held with the Division of Neurology Products, United States Food and Drug Administration (the Division), to solicit the Division’s guidance on the development pathway for Sarepta’s therapeutic candidate, golodirsen, a phosphordiamidate morpholino oligimer engineered to treat those patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) who have genetic mutations subject to skipping exon 53 of the DMD gene (Press release, Sarepta Therapeutics, MAR 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234524681]).

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"Sarepta is thankful for the FDA Neurology Division’s thoughtful and direct guidance regarding golodirsen," said Doug Ingram, Sarepta’s president and chief executive officer. "Obviously, whether golodirsen will obtain accelerated approval is a review decision that will come after the submission and review of our NDA. But we greatly appreciate the willingness of the Neurology Division to engage and provide clear direction to us on the steps necessary to support an NDA submission for accelerated approval."

As previously announced in the third quarter of 2017, Sarepta’s 4053-101 study – a Phase 1/2 study to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of golodirsen in 25 boys with confirmed deletions of the DMD gene amenable to exon 53 skipping – demonstrated statistically significant results in favor of golodirsen on all biological endpoints, including properly exon-skipped RNA transcript using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, quantity of dystrophin expression using Western blot and dystrophin intensity pursuant to immunohistochemistry.

Based on the results of Study 4053-101 and informed now by FDA’s feedback, Sarepta intends to complete a rolling submission of a golodirsen NDA by year-end 2018, seeking accelerated approval of golodirsen based on an increase in dystrophin protein as a surrogate endpoint.

Among other guidance:

The Division reported that in light of the precedent of eteplirsen’s approval, based on an increase in dystrophin protein as a surrogate endpoint reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit, a statistically significant increase in de novo, truncated dystrophin protein in Study 4053-101, based on a scientifically sound experimental design and rigorous analytical methods, may serve as a basis for accelerated approval of golodirsen for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, assuming that Sarepta provides substantial evidence of the effect of golodirsen on dystrophin from a single study.

Sarepta proposed that its Study 4045-301 (ESSENCE), a Phase 3 ongoing placebo-controlled clinical trial assessing the efficacy of golodirsen and casimersen, serve as the post-marketing confirmatory study. The Division confirmed that ESSENCE could possibly serve as a confirmatory study if golodirsen is granted accelerated approval, with the understanding that it is incumbent upon Sarepta to describe how it will successfully enroll and complete the ESSENCE study in light of an accelerated approval.

The Division indicated that it is willing to accept a rolling submission of the NDA. The complete submission must include long-term animal toxicology studies, which will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018. Hence, Sarepta anticipates the NDA submission will be complete in late 2018.
About Golodirsen

Golodirsen uses Sarepta’s proprietary phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) chemistry and exon-skipping technology to skip exon 53 of the DMD gene. Golodirsen is designed to bind to exon 53 of dystrophin pre-mRNA, resulting in exclusion, or "skipping," of this exon during mRNA processing in patients with genetic mutations that are amenable to exon 53 skipping. Exon skipping is intended to allow for production of an internally truncated but functional dystrophin protein.

Golodirsen is one of the investigational candidates currently being evaluated in the ESSENCE study, a global, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating efficacy and safety in patients amenable to skipping exons 45 or 53.

Dystrophin is a protein found in muscle cells that, while present in extremely small amounts (about 0.002 percent of total muscle protein), is crucial in strengthening and protecting muscle fibers. A devastating and incurable muscle-wasting disease, DMD is associated with specific errors in the gene that codes for dystrophin, a protein that plays a key structural role in muscle fiber function. Progressive muscle weakness in the lower limbs spreads to the arms, neck and other areas of the body. The condition is universally fatal, and death usually occurs before the age of 30 generally due to respiratory or cardiac failure.

About Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

DMD is an X-linked rare degenerative neuromuscular disorder causing severe progressive muscle loss and premature death. One of the most common fatal genetic disorders, DMD affects approximately one in every 3,500 – 5,000 male births worldwide.