Aug. 06, 2024 -- SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SLS) (“SELLAS” or the “Company”), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for a broad range of cancer indications, today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for SLS009, a novel, and highly selective CDK9 inhibitor, for the treatment of relapsed/refractory (r/r) peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL).
“We are pleased to announce the EMA’s granting of ODD for SLS009, highlighting another important milestone following recent FDA’s Orphan Drug and Fast Track Designations for SLS009 in PTCL,” said Angelos Stergiou, MD, ScD h.c., President and Chief Executive Officer of SELLAS. “PTCL is an aggressive form of lymphoma with limited treatment options, underscoring the urgent need for new and effective therapies. We are delighted that the potential of SLS009 has been recognized by both regulatory agencies and across multiple indications including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), pediatric AML, and pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This additional orphan drug designation also highlights our strong internal regulatory expertise, and we look forward to advancing the SLS009 development and our overall clinical programs to deliver its potential benefits to cancer patients.”
In the completed dose-escalation portion of the Phase 1 trial in relapsed/refractory hematological malignancies, SLS009 demonstrated favorable safety/tolerability and promising clinical efficacy. Complete or partial responses were observed in AML and lymphoma patients, with a 36.4% response rate achieved specifically in the PTCL patient group, including one patient who remained in continuous treatment for over 56 weeks. The current standard of care for r/r PTCL, belinostat, showed in its pivotal Phase 2 study a 25.8% response rate in a similar patient population to that in the SLS009 Phase 1 clinical trial.
Orphan Designation is granted to therapies aimed at the treatment, prevention, or diagnosis of life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases that affect no more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Union (EU) and for which no satisfactory therapy is available. The treatment must also provide significant benefit to those affected by the condition1.
SELLAS is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for a broad range of cancer indications. SELLAS’ other lead product candidate, GPS, is licensed from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and targets the WT1 protein, which is present in an array of tumor types. GPS has the potential as a monotherapy and combination with other therapies to address a broad spectrum of hematologic malignancies and solid tumor indications. The Company is also developing SLS009 (formerly GFH009) - potentially the first and best-in-class differentiated small molecule CDK9 inhibitor with reduced toxicity and increased potency compared to other CDK9 inhibitors. Data suggests that SLS009 demonstrated a high response rate in AML patients with unfavorable prognostic factors including ASXL1 mutation, commonly associated with poor prognosis in various myeloid diseases. For more information on SELLAS, please visit www.sellaslifesciences.com.
References:
1. European Medicines Agency (2023). "Orphan Designation." https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory-overview/orphan-designation-overview
The content above comes from the network. if any infringement, please contact us to modify.