Senhwa Biosciences, Inc. issued the following announcement on July 7.
Senhwa Biosciences, Inc. (TPEx: 6492), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on Next Generation DNA Damage Response (DDR) therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Rare Pediatric Disease (RPD) Designation for its drug Silmitasertib, a Casein Kinase 2 (CK2) inhibitor, being developed as a treatment for recurrent sonic hedgehog (SHH) medulloblastoma. With the RPD designation, Senhwa Biosciences is eligible for a Priority Review Voucher (PRV) which can be used for a subsequent marketing application, and may be sold or transferred. In August 2015, AbbVie bought a PRV from United Therapeutics Corp for $350 million which allowed AbbVie to accelerate one of its drug's FDA review process.
Medulloblastoma is the most common cancerous brain tumor in children. Treatment for medulloblastoma usually includes surgery, followed by radiation or chemotherapy, or both. Currently there is no targeted drug available. Recurrent SHH medulloblastoma is recognized as one of the four major sub-groups of medulloblastoma, with about 80-100 new cases per year. The FDA grants RPD Designation for serious or life-threatening diseases that primarily affect people from birth to 18 years old and which affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.
Senhwa's clinical partner, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC, www.pbtc.org) is currently conducting a Phase I/II and Surgical study of Silmitasertib, in both children and adults with recurrent SHH medulloblastoma, at its participating member academic medical centers and children's hospitals across the United States. This clinical trial is sponsored by the PBTC and funded through the Consortium grant awarded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) - Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP).
Silmitasertib is safe and well-tolerated in humans. To date, three Phase I trials of Silmitasertib in cancer patients have been completed; currently, there are one ongoing Phase I and two ongoing Phase II studies of Silmitasertib.
About Silmitasertib
Silmitasertib is a first-in-class small molecule drug which targets CK2 and acts as a CK2-inhibitor. A Phase I/II study has shown that Silmitasertib achieved clinical benefit, resulting in stable disease and extending the duration of treatment in patients who are unresponsive to standard of care therapy. The combination of Silmitasertib with DNA-damaging agents such as gemcitabine (Gemzar) plus cisplatin (Platinol) has been shown to synergistically improve the efficacy of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) treatments. In December 2016, Silmitasertib was granted Orphan Drug Designation by the US FDA for the treatment of CCA.
About Senhwa
Senhwa Biosciences, Inc. is a leading clinical stage company focusing on developing first-in-class, Next Generation DDR therapeutics for patients with unmet medical needs in oncology. Headquartered in Taiwan, with an operational base in San Diego, California, Senhwa is well positioned to oversee the development of their compounds.
Development is currently focused on two lead products Silmitasertib (CX-4945) and Pidnarulex (CX-5461) with novel mechanisms of action and for multiple indications. Clinical trials are ongoing in Australia, Canada, United States, Korea and Taiwan, with more currently in development.
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