ORLANDO, Fla.
— Star Therapeutics said its once-a-month injection for von Willebrand disease substantially cut bleeding rates in a preliminary study, and is thinking about the next moves to complete a larger trial and eventually get the drug to patients.
The trial data released Saturday looked at eight patients, and showed that treatment with Star’s shot decreased bleeds by a median of 81%. That included six patients who previously hadn’t received preventative therapies, and two who had. The Phase 1/2 results were presented at the annual American Society of Hematology meeting.
People with von Willebrand disease experience chronic, extended episodes of bleeding. That includes nose bleeds, joint and muscle bleeds, and menstrual periods that can last for weeks, among other symptoms. The condition is genetic.
The company is now planning a larger trial to win approval of the therapy, which is called VGA039. In September, Star
announced
a $125 million Series D round to fund a Phase 3 trial. That 60-patient study will test VGA039 as a monthly shot to prevent bleeding in more severe patients who experience at least 12 bleeding episodes a year. It hasn’t said what dose — fixed or weight-based — it will use.
The biotech’s goal is to develop a Hemlibra-like drug for von Willebrand. Hemlibra is Sanofi’s injectable bleeding prevention drug for hemophilia A, which last year generated $5 billion in sales. Other biotechs like Hemab Therapeutics, which
raised $157 million
in October, are also trying to make a bleeding prevention shot for von Willebrand disease.
Star Therapeutics’ Phase 3 trial started in October and is poised to wrap up in 2028, according to a federal clinical trials database. But the biotech’s Series D raise only gets it to the end of 2027, which has the company “potentially approaching the public markets” to pursue an IPO, CEO Adam Rosenthal said.
“At the same time, we’re always exploring options, and we’re constantly talking to pharma as well,” he said. “Right now, we’re gearing up.”
Rosenthal said that in 2018, when his company first traveled to ASH to check out the meeting, “no one was even talking about von Willebrand disease.”
“It was all about the hemophilias. And that is starting to shift now. We’re seeing innovation in areas outside of hemophilia A and B, and in particular von Willebrand disease,” he said.
There are already a number of IV infusions specifically approved for von Willebrand, including Takeda’s Vonvendi and Wilate. But the IV infusions have to be administered multiple times a week.
Rosenthal said the Phase 1/2 data show that Star’s therapy can be given once a month. The experimental treatment targets protein S, and is meant to “tip [patients] from a bleeding state right back to hemostasis without going too far,” Rosenthal said. Hemostasis is the process the body undertakes to form blood clots and stop bleeding.
Star said the drug looked fairly safe across the 16 patients in the early study, with one person reporting two cases of headache. Another patient faced a case of severe GI bleeding which was deemed unrelated to the drug. The company plans to report efficacy data across all patients at a future medical meeting, Rosenthal said.