PRINCETON, N.J., June 10, 2021 /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, announced today that it has received a Pediatric Investigation Plan (PIP) waiver from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for HyBryte™ (SGX301 or hypericin), which has recently and successfully concluded a Phase 3, pivotal clinical study for the treatment of early stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).
As part of the regulatory process for the registration of new medicines with the EMA, pharmaceutical companies are required to provide a PIP outlining the Company's strategy for investigation of the new medicinal products in the pediatric population. In some instances, a waiver negating the need for a PIP for certain conditions may be granted by the EMA when development of a medicine for use in children is not feasible or appropriate, as is the case for HyBryte™ in CTCL which is extremely rare in children.
"This achievement is an important regulatory milestone as we move forward with marketing applications worldwide," stated Christopher J. Schaber, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Soligenix. "The PIP waiver allows us to work towards advancing a marketing authorization application (MAA) with EMA in a more cost-effective manner since we will not need to expend significant time and resource to conduct a pediatric clinical study in the European Union. With the support of key patient advocacy organizations, such as the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation, and key opinion leaders, we are moving towards marketing approval and commercialization of HyBryte™, with the initial focus on the U.S. market followed by a MAA submission in Europe shortly thereafter."
About HyBryte™
HyBryte™ (SGX301) is a novel, first-in-class, photodynamic therapy utilizing safe, visible light for activation. The active ingredient in HyBryte™ is synthetic hypericin, a potent photosensitizer that is topically applied to skin lesions that is taken up by the malignant T-cells, and then activated by visible light 16 to 24 hours later which triggers apoptosis of the cell. The use of visible light in the red-yellow spectrum has the advantage of penetrating more deeply into the skin (much more so than ultraviolet light) and therefore potentially treating deeper skin disease and thicker plaques and lesions. This treatment approach avoids the risk of secondary malignancies (including melanoma) inherent with the frequently employed DNA-damaging drugs and other phototherapy that are dependent on ultraviolet exposure. Combined with photoactivation, hypericin has demonstrated significant anti-proliferative effects on activated normal human lymphoid cells and inhibited growth of malignant T-cells isolated from CTCL patients. In a published Phase 2 clinical study in CTCL, patients experienced a statistically significant (p=0.04) improvement with topical hypericin treatment whereas the placebo was ineffective. HyBryte™ has received orphan drug and fast track designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as orphan designation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Promising Innovative Medicine (PIM) and "Innovation Passport" under the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of the United Kingdom.
The Phase 3 FLASH (Fluorescent Light Activated Synthetic Hypericin) trial enrolled a total of 169 patients (166 evaluable) with Stage IA, IB or IIA CTCL. The trial consisted of three treatment cycles. Treatments were administered twice weekly for the first 6 weeks and treatment response was determined at the end of the 8th week of each cycle. In the first double-blind treatment cycle, 116 patients received HyBryte™ treatment (0.25% synthetic hypericin) and 50 received placebo treatment of their index lesions. A total of 16% of the patients receiving HyBryte™ achieved at least a 50% reduction in their lesions (graded using a standard measurement of dermatologic lesions, the CAILS score) compared to only 4% of patients in the placebo group at 8 weeks (p=0.04) during the first treatment cycle (primary endpoint). HyBryte™ treatment in the first cycle was safe and well tolerated.
In the second open-label treatment cycle (Cycle 2), all patients received HyBryte™ treatment of their index lesions. Evaluation of 155 patients in this cycle (110 receiving 12 weeks of HyBryte™ treatment and 45 receiving 6 weeks of placebo treatment followed by 6 weeks of HyBryte™ treatment), demonstrated that the response rate among the 12-week treatment group was 40% (p