CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I November 12, 2014 I Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT), a developer of RNA-based therapeutics, today announced that it has initiated dosing in a clinical study of eteplirsen, the Company’s lead exon-skipping therapeutic candidate for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), in patients who are non-ambulant or who have advanced DMD and don’t meet a minimum 6-minute walk test score at baseline.
The open-label study, 4658-204 (Study 204), will include approximately 20 patients treated with eteplirsen who have genotypes amenable to exon 51 skipping and who meet other study inclusion criteria. The study will be conducted at several sites in the United States and is designed to evaluate the safety of eteplirsen in DMD patients over 96 weeks of dosing. Patients enrolled in the study will receive once weekly intravenous infusions of 30mg/kg of eteplirsen, and data will be collected across a number of safety parameters and secondary efficacy endpoints.
“The initiation of this eteplirsen study represents an important milestone for patients, their families, and the DMD community,” said Edward Kaye, M.D., Sarepta’s Chief Medical Officer. “Expanding the DMD population to include patients who are older and non-ambulant demonstrates our strong commitment to develop eteplirsen for patients at all stages of DMD and will provide additional data to support our planned NDA filing.”
Fawn Leigh, M.D., of Mass General Hospital and a principal investigator in the study added, “Eteplirsen is a potential breakthrough treatment for patients with DMD. I am pleased to be able to offer this promising disease-modifying treatment to my patients and to potentially alter the course of this devastating disease.”
About Eteplirsen
Eteplirsen is Sarepta’s lead drug candidate and is designed to address the underlying cause of DMD by enabling the production of a functional dystrophin protein. Data from clinical studies of eteplirsen in DMD patients have demonstrated a broadly favorable safety and tolerability profile and restoration of dystrophin protein expression.
Eteplirsen uses Sarepta’s novel phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO)-based chemistry and proprietary exon-skipping technology to skip exon 51 of the dystrophin gene enabling the repair of specific genetic mutations that affect approximately 13 percent of the total DMD population. By skipping exon 51, eteplirsen may restore the gene’s ability to make a shorter, but still functional, form of dystrophin from messenger RNA, or mRNA. Promoting the synthesis of a truncated dystrophin protein is intended to stabilize or significantly slow the disease process and prolong and improve the quality of life for patients with DMD. Sarepta is also developing other PMO-based exon-skipping drug candidates intended to treat additional patients with DMD.
About Sarepta Therapeutics
Sarepta Therapeutics is focused on developing first-in-class RNA-based therapeutics to improve and save the lives of people affected by serious and life-threatening rare and infectious diseases. Sarepta’s diverse pipeline includes its lead program eteplirsen, for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as well as potential treatments for some of the world’s most lethal infectious diseases. Sarepta aims to build a leading, independent biotech company dedicated to translating its RNA-based science into transformational therapeutics for patients who face significant unmet medical needs. For more information, please visit us at www.sarepta.com.
SOURCE: Sarepta Therapeutics
Post Views: 216
CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I November 12, 2014 I Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT), a developer of RNA-based therapeutics, today announced that it has initiated dosing in a clinical study of eteplirsen, the Company’s lead exon-skipping therapeutic candidate for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), in patients who are non-ambulant or who have advanced DMD and don’t meet a minimum 6-minute walk test score at baseline.
The open-label study, 4658-204 (Study 204), will include approximately 20 patients treated with eteplirsen who have genotypes amenable to exon 51 skipping and who meet other study inclusion criteria. The study will be conducted at several sites in the United States and is designed to evaluate the safety of eteplirsen in DMD patients over 96 weeks of dosing. Patients enrolled in the study will receive once weekly intravenous infusions of 30mg/kg of eteplirsen, and data will be collected across a number of safety parameters and secondary efficacy endpoints.
“The initiation of this eteplirsen study represents an important milestone for patients, their families, and the DMD community,” said Edward Kaye, M.D., Sarepta’s Chief Medical Officer. “Expanding the DMD population to include patients who are older and non-ambulant demonstrates our strong commitment to develop eteplirsen for patients at all stages of DMD and will provide additional data to support our planned NDA filing.”
Fawn Leigh, M.D., of Mass General Hospital and a principal investigator in the study added, “Eteplirsen is a potential breakthrough treatment for patients with DMD. I am pleased to be able to offer this promising disease-modifying treatment to my patients and to potentially alter the course of this devastating disease.”
About Eteplirsen
Eteplirsen is Sarepta’s lead drug candidate and is designed to address the underlying cause of DMD by enabling the production of a functional dystrophin protein. Data from clinical studies of eteplirsen in DMD patients have demonstrated a broadly favorable safety and tolerability profile and restoration of dystrophin protein expression.
Eteplirsen uses Sarepta’s novel phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO)-based chemistry and proprietary exon-skipping technology to skip exon 51 of the dystrophin gene enabling the repair of specific genetic mutations that affect approximately 13 percent of the total DMD population. By skipping exon 51, eteplirsen may restore the gene’s ability to make a shorter, but still functional, form of dystrophin from messenger RNA, or mRNA. Promoting the synthesis of a truncated dystrophin protein is intended to stabilize or significantly slow the disease process and prolong and improve the quality of life for patients with DMD. Sarepta is also developing other PMO-based exon-skipping drug candidates intended to treat additional patients with DMD.
About Sarepta Therapeutics
Sarepta Therapeutics is focused on developing first-in-class RNA-based therapeutics to improve and save the lives of people affected by serious and life-threatening rare and infectious diseases. Sarepta’s diverse pipeline includes its lead program eteplirsen, for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as well as potential treatments for some of the world’s most lethal infectious diseases. Sarepta aims to build a leading, independent biotech company dedicated to translating its RNA-based science into transformational therapeutics for patients who face significant unmet medical needs. For more information, please visit us at www.sarepta.com.
SOURCE: Sarepta Therapeutics
Post Views: 216
