10-K – Annual report [Section 13 and 15(d), not S-K Item 405]

Lipocine has filed a 10-K – Annual report [Section 13 and 15(d), not S-K Item 405] with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Filing, 10-K, Lipocine, 2018, MAR 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234524653]).

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Journal of Clinical Oncology: Phase II Trial of Fruquintinib in Patients with Advanced Nonsquamous NSCLC

Patients with advanced non‒small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who fail two lines of chemotherapy have unmet medical needs (Press release, Hutchison China MediTech, MAR 12, 2018, https://www.chi-med.com/jco-phase-ii-fruquintinib-nsclc/ [SID1234525456]). The kinase inhibitor fruquintinib selectively targets vascular endothelial growth factor receptors and, hence, tumor angiogenesis and lymphogenesis. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter phase II trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of fruquintinib in patients with advanced nonsquamous NSCLC who experienced disease progression after second-line chemotherapy.

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Patients and Methods
Eligible patients were randomly assigned (two to one; stratified by epidermal growth factor receptor status) to receive fruquintinib or placebo, both in combination with best supportive care. Oral fruquintinib (5 mg once daily) was given in 4-week cycles of 3 weeks of treatment followed by 1 week off. Tumor response was assessed using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS) evaluated by a blinded image central review (BICR) committee. Secondary end points included investigator-evaluated PFS, objective response rate, disease control rate, overall survival, and safety.

Results
Ninety-one patients from 12 hospitals received treatment with fruquintinib (n = 61) or placebo (n = 30). Median PFS was 3.8 months with fruquintinib by both BICR and investigators’ evaluations (hazard ratio by BICR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.57; P < .001). Three- and 6-month survival rates were 90.2% and 67.2% in the fruquintinib group and 73.3% and 58.8% in the placebo group, respectively. The objective response rate and disease control rate were 13.1% and 60.7% with fruquintinib, compared with 0% and 13.3% with placebo (P = .041 and < .001), respectively. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events with fruquintinib (≥ grade 3) were hypertension (8.2%), hand-foot syndrome (4.9%), and proteinuria (4.9%).

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Announces Upcoming Presentations at ENDO 2018

On March 12, 2018 Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a rare disease therapeutics company focused on endocrine disorders and endocrine-related cancers, reported an oral presentation and two poster presentations relating to the company’s drug development candidates (Press release, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, MAR 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234525096]). These presentations will be made at the upcoming ENDO 2018, the Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society, taking place from March 17-20, 2018 in McCormick Place West, Chicago, Illinois.

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Oral Presentation:

Title: Phase 1 Clinical Trial of CRN00808, an Orally Bioavailable sst2-Selective, Nonpeptide Somatostatin Biased Agonist for the Treatment of Acromegaly: Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Inhibition of GHRH-Induced GH Secretion.
Session: OR06 – Pituitary Tumors: Acromegaly and Prolactinomas.
Poster: ORO6-3.
Date and Time: Saturday, March 17, 12-12:15 p.m. CDT
Location: W192.

Poster Presentations:

Title: Suppression of Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 in Rats After Oral Administration of CRN00808, a Small Molecule, SST2 Selective Somatostatin Biased Agonist.
Session: P32 – Pituitary Transcription Factors and New Hormonal Signaling Pathways.
Poster: SUN-604.
Date and Time: Sunday, March 18, 1-3 p.m. CDT
Location: ENDOExpo, Hall F.

Title: Somatostatin Subtype 5 (sst5) Agonists for the Treatment of Hyperinsulinism: Orally-Bioavailable Small Molecules Suppress Insulin and Rescue Glyburide-Induced Hypoglycemia.
Session: P14-3 – Pediatric Endocrinology – Disorders of Sexual Differentiation, Transgender Medicine, Metabolic Disorders, and Growth.
Poster: MON-193.
Date and Time: Monday, March 19, 1-3 p.m. CDT
Location: ENDOExpo, Hall F.

Altimmune Announces Pre-Clinical Data From its SparVax-L Anthrax Vaccine Program

On March 12, 2018 Altimmune, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALT), a clinical-stage immunotherapeutics company, reported data from a pre-clinical study comparing SparVax-L and BioThrax against anthrax infection (Press release, Altimmune, MAR 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234524667]). Data from the study showed a 67% survival rate in animals challenged with a lethal dose of anthrax after a single dose of SparVax-L, an anthrax vaccine currently being developed through funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and previously through funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

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"We are very encouraged by these data and look forward to continuing to develop this important vaccine," said William J. Enright, president and chief executive officer of Altimmune. "Nearly 700 volunteers have been dosed with a liquid formulation of this vaccine in previous Phase 1 and Phase 2 human studies. These data using a new, highly stable, lyophilized (freeze dried) formulation, continue to validate this approach and strongly support further development of SparVax-L."

The study compared SparVax-L to BioThrax, the currently approved vaccine against anthrax infection. SparVax-L uses a well-accepted adjuvant formulation with a clear regulatory pathway for safety and efficacy. The results of this study showed a 67% survival rate after a single dose of SparVax-L, and a 100% survival rate after two doses at day 0 and day 14 when challenged at Day 28, which was comparable to BioThrax’s 96% survival rate after two doses. The dose of SparVax-L used in this study was low compared to what is supported by existing safety and toxicology studies which indicates that better single dose protection may be achieved with a higher dose. Additionally, SparVax-L showed significantly more toxin neutralizing antibodies (TNA) after the two doses when compared to BioThrax. TNA is the key surrogate for protection in clinical studies of anthrax vaccines.

SparVax-L is being developed as a second generation, highly purified recombinant anthrax vaccine requiring only two vaccinations for protection. SparVax-L is further differentiated by its ability to be stored at room temperature, making it well-suited for stockpiling in the Strategic National Stockpile.

This project has been funded in part with Federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN272201400040C and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) under contract No. HSS01002009000103C. The Company is seeking additional government funding to further advance the stable lyophilized formulation in human clinical studies.

Sarepta Therapeutics Announces Plan to Submit a New Drug Application (NDA) for Accelerated Approval of Golodirsen (SRP-4053) in Patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) Amenable to Skipping Exon 53

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.