Barely a year after the U.S. FDA shackled Abeona Therapeutics Inc.’s cell-based gene therapy with a complete response letter, the agency has approved it for treating a rare and genetic skin disease. Zevaskyn (prademagene zamikeracel), for treating wounds in adult and pediatric patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, will be priced in the U.S. at $3.1 million.
Some rare skin diseases not only reduce the quality of life of patients, but also can be devastating conditions, leading to amputations or death. At the 31st annual congress of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT), held last week in Rome, different laboratories showcased their approaches to editing mutations related to this group of diseases.
Abeona Therapeutics Inc. is on the road to filing a BLA with the U.S. FDA after posting positive top-line phase III data in wound healing and also to the bank with a new $35 million private placement financing. The data for EB-101, an autologous cell therapy, came from a pivotal study of treating recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, an ultra-rare connective tissue disorder. Results showed the study met its two co-primary endpoints in wound healing and for reducing pains in large, chronic wounds caused by the disorder.
Paragon Biosciences-backed Castle Creek Biosciences Inc. pulled off an oversubscribed and upsized preferred stock financing of $112.8 million. The money should let the firm tie the bow on a phase III study and roll out top-line results of its lead ex vivo product candidate for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) called D-Fi (dabocemagene autoficel, also known as FCX-007).
Like many companies, New York-based Abeona Therapeutics Inc. faltered clinically as a result of the COVID-19 virus, which delayed enrollment in the phase III study with EB-101 gene therapy in recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), but the company earlier this month disclosed the restart of patient enrollment in the experiment called Viital.
Castle Creek Biosciences Inc. CEO John Maslowski told BioWorld the firm’s $75 million financing will propel phase III research with FCX-007 in recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), with top-line data due in the first quarter of 2021 – “a big inflection point” for the Exton, Pa.-based company, which plans a BLA filing for that year as well.
Investigators at Stanford University Medical Center have treated the first patient in a pivotal phase III study of Abeona Therapeutics Inc.'s EB-101, an autologous cell therapy for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). The trial, delayed by an FDA clinical hold placed in September 2019, has now resumed, with the majority of its 15 expected participants pre-screened.
