Rusfertide acetate

Silence Therapeutics announced encouraging results from its ongoing Phase I study of divesiran (SLN124), a potential first-in-class siRNA therapy for patients with polycythaemia vera (PV). The drug, which targets TMPRSS6, aims to increase hepcidin production, thereby restricting iron availability to the bone marrow and reducing the excessive red blood cell production that is characteristic of the disease."What we see today is a very clear picture," said CEO Craig Tooman on a call with investors. "We are excited about the potential for divesiran to be the first siRNA therapy for PV." He added that a Phase II study start is planned by year-end.The treatment goal for PV is to lower haematocrit (HCT) levels to less than 45% in order to reduce cardiovascular and major thrombotic events. Current standard of care includes repeated phlebotomies to lower HCT and/or cytoreductive agents to reduce red blood cell production.Near elimination of phlebotomiesThursday's readout centres on data from 16 patients enrolled in the ongoing SANRECO study. It included three dose cohorts who received divesiran administered subcutaneously every six weeks over the course of the 34-week study. The trial included both well-controlled patients – meaning they had HCT of ≤45% at baseline – as well as those with HCT levels over 45% despite being on current standard therapies.According to Silence, none of the eight well-controlled patients required phlebotomy during the treatment period, and only two out of the other eight patients with baseline HCTs over 45% required one phlebotomy. As a comparison, there were a total of 59 phlebotomies across the 16 patients reported during the six months prior to study entry.Less frequent dosing?While the company tested a six-week dosing schedule, R&D head Steven Romano noted that "based on the data we're collecting and continue to collect, we do see an opportunity potentially for a less frequent dosing strategy, but that will not be determined until we complete Phase I and move into Phase II."The company also reported favourable effects on iron metabolism indices across all dose groups, while hepcidin levels increased and remained within physiological ranges, demonstrating effective target engagement. No major safety issues were reported. More detailed results will be shared at a scientific meeting later this year.The SANRECO readout follows Silence's recent report of encouraging longer-term Phase II data for zerlasiran, another experimental siRNA therapy it is working on, but for cardiovascular disease. Zerlasiran demonstrated sustained reductions in lipoprotein(a) levels through 48 weeks in patients at high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events.Takeda-partnered rivalMeanwhile, the progress of divesiran comes amid increasing interest in novel therapies for PV. Earlier this year, Takeda agreed to pay $300 million upfront as part of a licensing deal with Protagonist Therapeutics for rusfertide, an injectable hepcidin mimetic peptide currently in Phase III testing for PV. The company anticipates topline data from the VERIFY study by the end of the first quarter of 2025.Recent long-term follow-up data from rusfertide's Phase II REVIVE trial showed durable HCT control and decreased phlebotomy for up to three years.

Long term follow-up from REVIVE Phase 2 study up to 3 years shows durable hematocrit (Hct) control (< 45%), decreased phlebotomy use, long-term tolerability, and no new safety signals in patients with polycythemia vera Patients receiving rusfertide in the open-label extension of the REVIVE study are eligible to roll over to the THRIVE study for an additional 2 years of treatment NEWARK, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2024 / Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. ("Protagonist" or the "Company") announced details from two abstracts at the European Hematology Association 2024 Congress, including an oral presentation with long-term follow-up data from the Phase 2 REVIVE study with rusfertide, a mimetic of the natural hormone hepcidin with potential therapeutic value in the treatment of polycythemia vera (PV) and other disease indications. Copies of the presentations will be available on the Events and Presentations section of the Protagonist website. Kristen M. Pettit, M.D., Clinical Associate Professor at University of Michigan Health presented the long-term follow-up data from patients in REVIVE who continued into the open label extension (OLE). The Phase 2 trial consisted of 3 parts including 70 patients in the dose-finding Part 1 (28 weeks), 59 patients in the placebo-controlled, randomized withdrawal Part 2 (13 weeks), and 58 patients in the Part 3 OLE (52 weeks). The THRIVE study provides OLE for an additional two years of treatment to patients who have completed Part 3 OLE of the Phase 2 REVIVE study. As of April 9, 2024 (data cut-off for the EHA presentation), 47 patients (81.0%) remain on rusfertide, with 48 patients treated for two or more years and 10 patients treated for three or more years. Of the 58 patients who entered the REVIVE Part 3 OLE, the median duration of therapy is 124.3 weeks as of the April 9, 2024 data cut-off, and 24 patients have rolled over to the THRIVE study for up to two additional years of rusfertide treatment. "These long-term REVIVE data continue to showcase the positive clinical impact that rusfertide has on PV patients," noted Dr. Kristen M. Pettit. "With up to three years of data showing strong and lasting improvements in hematocrit as well as previous evidence of symptom improvement, rusfertide continues to demonstrate its potential as an important future treatment option for patients with polycythemia vera." The updated long-term data showed that rusfertide when added to therapeutic phlebotomy with or without cytoreductive therapy resulted in: Long term durable control of hematocrit below the 45% threshold for up to 3 years Decreased phlebotomy use, from a rate of 8.7 per year before study entry to 0.43 per year in Part 3 of REVIVE, which remained consistent with the rate of 0.36 per year observed for patients randomized to rusfertide in Part 2 of REVIVE Decreased red blood cell counts and continued improvement and normalization of serum ferritin levels Mean leukocyte counts remained stable throughout the study; an asymptomatic increase in platelets was observed with initiation of rusfertide treatment but stabilized over time No new safety signals with the majority of adverse events being Grade 1-2 injection site reactions or adverse events consistent with the comorbidities commonly associated with polycythemia vera In REVIVE, 19 of 70 patients (27.1%) had a history of cancer prior to enrolling in the study. Among these, 10 (14.3%) had a history of skin cancer. As of April 9, 2024, there are 11 patients diagnosed with malignancies while on study (11/70; 15.7%), including 9 with skin cancer (9/70; 12.9%). All cancers occurred in patients with risk factors such as a prior history of cancer, previous cytoreductive therapy, pre-existing skin lesions that were not biopsied or photosensitive skin. All skin cancers were localized, early stage (in situ or stage 1) and all patients remained on rusfertide after the skin lesions were excised. "The long-term open label rusfertide data from REVIVE study continue to show a durable positive effect on PV symptomology and other benefits including iron deficiency as well as a solid safety profile. Patients completing the 3-year open-label extension can roll over to the THRIVE open-label study for an additional 2-years providing efficacy and safety for a total of up to 5.8 years of rusfertide treatment," said Arturo Molina, M.D., M.S., Chief Medical Officer of Protagonist. "We are very pleased with the continued favorable safety pro look forward to the top-line data for the VERIFY Phase 3 study's 32-week primary efficacy endpoint by the end of the first quarter of 2025." A separate abstract accepted for publication only was titled "Absence of QTC Prolongation with Rusfertide, a Hepcidin Mimetic for the Treatment of Polycythemia Vera: A Thorough QT/QTC Study in Healthy Subjects." In this study, 60 healthy subjects were randomized to receive single doses of subcutaneous rusfertide (90mg), matching placebo, or oral moxifloxacin (400mg).Rusfertide was generally well tolerated and did not result in a clinically relevant prolongation of the QTcF interval. About Protagonist Protagonist Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company with peptide-based new chemical entities (NCEs) rusfertide and JNJ-2113 (formerly PN-235) in advanced stages of clinical development, both derived from the Company's proprietary technology platform. Protagonist and JNJ scientists jointly discovered PN-235 (now known as JNJ-2113) as part of Protagonist's Interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) collaboration with JNJ and followed it through IND-enabling pre-clinical and Phase 1 studies, with JNJ assuming responsibility for further clinical development. Rusfertide, a mimetic of the natural hormone hepcidin, is the Company's lead drug candidate currently in a global Phase 3 development program. The randomized portion of the Phase 2 REVIVE study was unblinded, showing positive results and is now complete, with an open-label extension underway. The global Phase 3 VERIFY study of rusfertide in polycythemia vera is ongoing. Rusfertide will be co-developed and co-commercialized with Takeda pursuant to a worldwide collaboration and license agreement with Takeda entered into in January 2024 and became effective in March 2024. More information on Protagonist, its pipeline drug candidates and clinical studies can be found on the Company's website at . Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the potential benefits of rusfertide. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "may," "will," "expect," or the negative or plural of these words or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates, our ability to earn milestone payments under our collaboration agreement with Janssen, our ability to use and expand our programs to build a pipeline of product candidates, our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates, our ability to operate in a competitive industry and compete successfully against competitors that have greater resources than we do, and our ability to obtain and adequately protect intellectual property rights for our product candidates. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors affecting our business can be found in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in our most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate, may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Any forward-looking statements that we make in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release. Investor Relations Contact Corey Davis, Ph.D. LifeSci Advisors +1 212 915 2577 cdavis@lifesciadvisors.com Media Relations Contact Virginia Amann ENTENTE Network of Companies virginiaamann@ententeinc.com +1 833 500 0061 SOURCE: Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com