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Soligenix Enters into Exclusive Option Agreement with Silk Road Therapeutics for Rights to Topical Pentoxifylline Designed to Treat Behçet's Disease
Phase 2/3-Ready Orphan Disease Program Complements Company's Existing Late-Stage Rare Disease Pipeline PRINCETON, N.J., May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Soligenix,
About this update from Soligenix, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Phase 2/3-Ready Orphan Disease Program Complements Company's Existing Late-Stage Rare Disease Pipeline\nPRINCETON, N.J., May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Soligenix, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNGX) (Soligenix or the Company), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need, today announced that it has entered into an exclusive option agreement with Silk Road Therapeutics, a privately-held company. The option agreement grants the Company the right to acquire a novel topical formulation of Pentoxifylline (PTX), a non-biological anti-TNF-alpha inhibitor, for the treatment of mucocutaneous ulcers in patient's suffering from Behçet's Disease (BD). BD is a rare multisystem inflammatory vasculitis with no cure, characterized by debilitating recurrent ulcers in the oral mucosa (95%), skin/genitalia (50%), and eye compartment (15%). An orphan disease and area of unmet medical need affecting approximately 18,000 people in the United States (U.S.) and 80,000 in Europe, there are as many as 1,000,000 people worldwide living with this painful and life altering disease. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.\n\"The novel muco-adherent topical formulation of PTX has the potential to fill a significant void in the current treatment armamentarium for BD, where a clear unmet medical need exists,\" stated Christopher J. Schaber, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Soligenix. \"General agreement amongst treating physicians is that current front-line treatment/management options, such as oral and topical steroids, are largely ineffective and have a number of potentially significant safety issues when used long-term. When transitioning to the more effective therapies, like biologics (e.g., adalimumab) and apremilast, the only approved treatment in BD, these longer-term safety concerns persist and are associated with a much higher financial burden to patients and/or payors in treating this lifelong condition. PTX has the potential to be an efficacious, safe, and more cost-effective treatment in BD. With the positive Phase 2 proof-of-concept (POC) study demonstrating accelerated oral ulcer healing and decreased pain compared to standard of care in patients with BD, we will be working to complete our remaining diligence activities under the exclusive option agre...