Parkinson Disease

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BioArctic AB's (publ) (NASDAQ Stockholm: BIOA B) partner Eisai has presented the latest findings for lecanemab (Leqembi®) at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease, CTAD, congress, held in Madrid, Spain, and virtually, October 29 to November 1. Three-year data show that lecanemab continues to give increased patient benefit for patients with early Alzheimer's disease, expanding approximately 1 point on CDR-SB compared to the ADNI[1]-population, with maintained safety profile. In addition, data show that 46% of patients who had low levels of brain amyloid at the start of treatment have improved or maintained cognition and function after three years of treatment. Highlights from the presentations at CTAD included: Benefits of continued treatment with lecanemab for people with early Alzheimer's disease Results from the open-label long-term extension study (OLE) following the core study of the lecanemab phase 3 Clarity AD study presented at AAIC in July, showed that the mean change from baseline in CDR-SB (global cognitive and functional scale) in the lecanemab treated group was -0.45 at 18 months compared to the placebo group. This had expanded to -0.95 compared to the ADNI-population at 36 months. The data also showed a 30% reduction in the risk of progressing to the next disease stage. Furthermore, the tau PET substudy of Clarity AD showed that with three years of continuous treatment with lecanemab, 59% of patients with no or low tau accumulation in the brain (no tau/low tau) at baseline showed improvement or no decline, and 51% showed improvement from baseline on the Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) global cognitive and functional scale. Clarity AD data presented at CTAD expanded on these initial results to include additional measurements resulting from three years of continuous lecanemab treatment in patients with low levels of amyloid accumulation in the brain at baseline (less than 60 centiloids). These data show that 46% of patients improved or had no decline, and 33% showed improvement from baseline on the CDR-SB, with similar results for ADAS-Cog14 and on the ADCS MCI-ADL scales. These results – from no tau/low tau and low amyloid populations – suggest that earlier initiation of lecanemab treatment may have a positive impact on disease progression of early Alzheimer disease patients and may provide continued benefits to these patients over the long term. Safety matters No new safety findings were observed with continued lecanemab treatment over three years. Most Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) occurred in the first six months of treatment. After the first six months, ARIA rates were low and similar to ARIA rates on placebo. With regards to the incidence of ARIA by ApoE4 status during the continuous treatment, it was shown that the incidence was higher in ApoE4 homozygotes than in heterozygotes or non-carriers, but rates of new ARIA decreased after the completion of the 18 months core study as treatment continued, regardless of ApoE4 status. Alzheimer's disease continues to progress when treatment is stopped – continued treatment even after plaque clearance beneficial for patients Lecanemab continues to positively impact biomarkers over the course of treatment – Clinical data and biomarkers such as Aβ42/40 ratio, pTau181, pTau217 and GFAP suggests that AD does not stop progressing after plaque clearance. Data indicates that patients continue to benefit by remaining on treatment, potentially at a lower maintenance dose, which was shown to prevent reaccumulating of brain amyloid and worsening of plasma biomarkers. Population approved for treatment in Great Britain show greater effect and better safety data In a presentation of the Clarity AD data focused on the Alzheimer's disease population approved for treatment in Great Britain, ApoE4 heterozygotes or non-carriers, showed that the CDR-SB slowing of decline is greater at 33% compared to the 27% which was seen for the total study population. Simultaneously, the rate of the side effect ARIA-E was lower at 8.9% compared to 12.6% for the total population. Progress in the AHEAD 3-45 Study – patient enrollment completed AHEAD 3-45 is a four-year phase 3 clinical study for individuals with preclinical AD, meaning they are clinically unimpaired but have intermediate or elevated levels of amyloid in their brains. Based on the amount of amyloid accumulation in the brain as determined by amyloid PET, subjects were assigned to two (2) trials with different dose settings: the A3 trial (approximately 400 people), for those with intermediate levels of amyloid in the brain, and the A45 trial (approximately 1000 people), for those with increased amyloid levels in the brain. Screening with blood biomarker tests was important to improve eligibility for amyloid PET testing and reduced screening failure on amyloid PET from more than 70% to less than 30%. In particular, plasma p-tau217 was shown to correlate with amyloid PET, supporting its role as a useful blood biomarker to identify elevated amyloid in the brain. Enrollment for the AHEAD 3-45 study was completed in October 2024. "The long-term data for lecanemab which our partner Eisai has presented are impressive. It shows that the patient benefit of lecanemab continues to increase over time, which is exactly what is expected from a disease modifying treatment. In addition, the safety data reported from clinical practice in the US and Japan seems to be at least on par with phase 3 data," said Gunilla Osswald, CEO at BioArctic. "It is also encouraging to see the results of early Alzheimer disease patients from the low amyloid and no tau/low tau populations, with 46 to 59% showing improvement or no decline compared to baseline at 36 months. This suggest that earlier initiation of lecanemab treatment may have a positive impact on disease progression of early Alzheimer disease patients and could provide continued benefits to patients over the long term." Lecanemab is the result of a long-standing collaboration between BioArctic and Eisai, and the antibody was originally developed by BioArctic based on the work of Professor Lars Lannfelt and his discovery of the Arctic mutation in Alzheimer's disease. Eisai is responsible for the clinical development, applications for market approval and commercialization of lecanemab for Alzheimer's disease. BioArctic has the right to commercialize lecanemab in the Nordic region and pending European approval Eisai and BioArctic are preparing for a joint commercialization in the region. The information was released for public disclosure, through the agency of the contact person below, on October 31, 2024, at 08:30 a.m. CET. For further information, please contact: Oskar Bosson, VP Communications and IR E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +46 70 410 71 80 About lecanemab (Leqembi®) Lecanemab is the result of a strategic research alliance between BioArctic and Eisai. It is a humanized immunoglobulin gamma 1 (IgG1) monoclonal antibody directed against aggregated soluble (protofibril) and insoluble forms of amyloid-beta (Aβ). Lecanemab is approved in the U.S., Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Israel, UAE and Great Britain for the treatment of MCI due to AD and mild AD dementia. Lecanemab's approvals in these countries were primarily based on Phase 3 data from Eisai's global Clarity AD clinical trial, in which it met its primary endpoint and all key secondary endpoints with statistically significant results. The most common adverse events (>10%) in the lecanemab group were infusion reactions, ARIA-H (combined cerebral microhemorrhages, cerebral macrohemorrhages, and superficial siderosis), ARIA-E (edema/effusion), headache, and fall. Lecanemab marketed in the U.S., Japan and China. Eisai has also submitted applications for approval of lecanemab in 10 countries and regions, including the European Union. Since July 2020 Eisai's Phase 3 clinical study (AHEAD 3-45) for individuals with preclinical AD, meaning they are clinically normal and have intermediate or elevated levels of amyloid in their brains, is ongoing. AHEAD 3-45 is conducted as a public-private partnership between the Alzheimer's Clinical Trial Consortium that provides the infrastructure for academic clinical trials in AD and related dementias in the U.S, funded by the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health and Eisai. Since January 2022, the Tau NexGen clinical study for Dominantly Inherited AD (DIAD), that is conducted by Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU), led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is ongoing and includes lecanemab as the backbone anti-amyloid therapy. About the collaboration between BioArctic and Eisai Since 2005, BioArctic has a long-term collaboration with Eisai regarding the development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The most important agreements are the Development and Commercialization Agreement for the lecanemab antibody, which was signed 2007, and the Development and Commercialization agreement for the antibody Leqembi back-up for Alzheimer's disease, which was signed 2015. In 2014, Eisai and Biogen entered into a joint development and commercialization agreement for lecanemab. Eisai is responsible for the clinical development, application for market approval and commercialization of the products for Alzheimer's disease. BioArctic has the right to commercialize lecanemab in the Nordic region under certain conditions and is currently preparing for commercialization in the Nordics together with Eisai. BioArctic has no development costs for lecanemab in Alzheimer's disease and is entitled to payments in connection with regulatory approvals, and sales milestones as well as royalties on global sales. About BioArctic AB BioArctic AB (publ) is a Swedish research-based biopharma company focusing on innovative treatments that can delay or stop the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. The company invented Leqembi® (lecanemab) – the world's first drug proven to slow the progression of the disease and reduce cognitive impairment in early Alzheimer's disease. Leqembi has been developed together with BioArctic's partner Eisai, who are responsible for regulatory interactions and commercialization globally. In addition to Leqembi, BioArctic has a broad research portfolio with antibodies against Parkinson's disease and ALS as well as additional projects against Alzheimer's disease. Several of the projects utilize the company's proprietary BrainTransporter™ technology, which has the potential to actively transport antibodies across the blood-brain barrier to enhance the efficacy of the treatment. BioArctic's B share (BIOA B) is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Large Cap. For further information, please visit . [1] ADNI is a clinical research project launched in 2005 to develop methods to predict the onset of AD and to confirm the effectiveness of treatments. The ADNI observational cohort represents the exact population of those in Clarity AD study; matched ADNI participants show similar degree of decline to placebo group out to 18 months This information was brought to you by Cision The following files are available for download: WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

SOMERVILLE, Mass., Oct. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aitia, a biotech company pioneering the use of causal AI and Digital Twins in drug discovery and development, is expanding its collaboration with Servier, a global and independent pharmaceutical company, to tackle gliomas, a broad group of brain cancers. This collaboration aims to use Aitia's breakthrough technology which is powered by millions of data points from patient cancer tissues to find new treatments for this deadly disease. Under the terms of the collaboration, Aitia and Servier will work together to discover and, validate novel drug targets and develop novel drug candidates for glioma using Aitia's Gemini Digital Twins and Servier's therapeutic discovery and clinical development expertise in oncology. This collaboration will include exploration of the heterogeneous biology of these brain cancers, mechanisms of resistance, and drug response at the individual patient level. In a recent breakthrough in another form of glioma, specifically Grade 2 astrocytoma or oligodendroglioma with a susceptible IDH1 or IDH2 mutation following surgery including biopsy, sub-total resection, or gross total resection in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older, Servier recently announced approval of the brain cancer drug, VORANIGO, the first approved drug for this disease area in almost 25 years. Gliomas, tumors that originate in the brain or spinal cord from glial cells, affects more than 190,000 people worldwide annually. The most aggressive form of glioma, glioblastoma, has an average survival time after diagnosis of approximately 15 months, with less than 7% of patients surviving beyond five years, according to the National Brain Tumor Society. Despite standard treatments like surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, glioblastoma has a high rate of recurrence and there are currently no curative therapies. "We are excited to expand our collaboration with Aitia into gliomas as we continue to prioritize brain cancer after our recent positive results and approval of VORANIGO in the US and in growing number of territories," said Fabien Schmidlin, Global Head of Translational Medicine at Servier. "At Servier, we are committed to advancing therapies for cancer patients with high unmet medical needs, and we believe that integrating Aitia's Gemini Digital Twins with our expertise in oncology, particularly in targeting molecular mutations, could open new avenues for more effective treatments." "Glioma is the among the deadliest forms of cancer, and the lack of broadly effective treatments highlights the urgent need for new approaches that leverage the growth of genetic and multi-omic patient data and breakthroughs in AI," said Colin Hill, CEO and co-founder of Aitia. "We believe that our Gemini Digital Twins, along with Servier's drug discovery and clinical development expertise in hard-to-treat cancers can lead to new breakthrough therapies for this disease." This collaboration represents the fourth area of research Aitia and Servier are collaborating on. The companies began their partnership in 2022, to advance drug discovery, translational, and clinical development efforts in Multiple Myeloma, then expanding in 2023 to include drug discovery and development for pancreatic cancer, and again in January 2024 to discover patient responders for Servier's LRRK2 inhibitor in Parkinson's disease. Aitia's approach centers on two key innovations: causal AI and Gemini Digital Twins. Causal AI goes beyond correlative associations to identify which genetic or molecular changes drive diseases and patient response to therapies. Gemini Digital Twins are virtual models that are reverse-engineered from huge quantities of genetic, multi-omic, and clinical data from patients that reveal how genes, proteins, and other molecules interact within cells and tissues to drive clinical outcomes. These Gemini Digital Twins of a specific disease allow researchers to rapidly test billions of experiments such as gene and protein knockdowns or application of a drug candidate in a human patient context versus animal models or cells in petri dishes. These high-throughput "virtual experiments" in patient-derived Gemini Digital Twins leads to discovering and selecting drug candidates that are more likely to succeed in clinical trials in specific patient populations. About Aitia Aitia is an AI-enabled biotechnology company deploying causal AI and creating Gemini Digital Twins to discover the next generation of breakthrough drugs in neurodegenerative diseases and oncology, including a lead program in Huntington's disease. By leveraging the convergence of multi-omic patient data, high-performance computing, and causal AI, Aitia's Gemini Digital Twins reveal the hidden biological mechanisms of disease to transform the discovery and development of new therapeutics. To date, Gemini Digital Twins have been used to accelerate R&D in oncology, neurodegeneration, cardiometabolic, and immunology. Media Contact: Isabelle Caffry Senior Director, Strategy & Corporate Development [email protected] +1-617-374-2300 Ryan Flinn In Like Flinn Communications [email protected] +1 510-207-7616 SOURCE Aitia WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

Wholly owned first-in-class program anticipated to enter clinical trials in first half of 2025 THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Oct. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Capsida Biotherapeutics ("Capsida") today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) to Capsida for CAP-002. CAP-002 is the company's lead investigational gene therapy for the treatment of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) due to syntaxin-binding protein 1 (STXBP1) mutations. CAP-002 is a novel, first-in-class IV-administered gene therapy using one of Capsida's proprietary engineered capsids designed to achieve brain-wide neuronal expression of the STXBP1 protein while significantly detargeting the liver. CAP-002 is currently in IND-enabling studies. "FDA's granting Orphan Drug Designation signals the significant potential that CAP-002 demonstrates based upon our preclinical data," said Peter Anastasiou, Chief Executive Officer of Capsida Biotherapeutics. "There are no disease-modifying therapies available for STXBP1 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy and CAP-002 could be the first, bringing hope for patients and families affected by this devastating disorder." The STXBP1 protein is present in every neuron in the brain and is essential for normal neurotransmission. A mutation in the STXBP1 gene is associated with treatment-resistant seizures, severe developmental delay and intellectual disability, motor abnormalities, and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Preclinical pharmacology studies have established the potential to treat and even fully correct the disease through gene supplementation. These studies demonstrated rescue of these neurological phenotypes was dependent on supplementation of STXBP1 in neurons throughout the brain at levels not achievable by wild-type serotypes, such as AAV9. Capsida conducted these studies with a proprietary murine disease model in collaboration with Mingshan Xue, Ph.D., associate professor of neuroscience and molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as a member of the Cain Foundation Laboratories and the Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital. "Receiving Orphan Drug Designation moves us one step closer to our goal of transforming the lives of people living with STXBP1 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy," said Swati Tole, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Capsida. "We are committed to advancing CAP-002, with our IND filing in the first half of 2025, and bringing novel gene therapies to people with high unmet medical needs." The FDA's Orphan Drug Designation is intended to encourage the development of treatments for rare diseases, defined as those affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. Orphan Drug Designation may shorten the clinical development path through closer FDA collaboration and potential qualification for expedited development programs. This designation also provides the company with certain benefits, including tax credits for qualified clinical trials, exemption from user fees, and potential seven-year market exclusivity upon FDA approval. About STXBP1 Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathy Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy caused by STXBP1 mutations is estimated to affect up to one in 26,000 children globally. It is associated with treatment resistant seizures, severe developmental delay and intellectual disability, motor abnormalities, and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). There are no approved treatments. About Capsida Biotherapeutics Capsida Biotherapeutics is a fully integrated gene therapy company with a central nervous system (CNS) pipeline consisting of disease modifying and potentially curative treatments for rare and more common diseases across all ages. Capsida's intravenously (IV) administered gene therapies utilize proprietary engineered capsids that enable high transduction levels to desired tissues and cells, while limiting tropism to non-target organs, such as the liver. Capsida has three wholly owned programs, including a potential -first-in-class treatment for STXBP1 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy and a best-in-class treatment Parkinson's disease associated with GBA mutations, both of which are in IND-enabling studies and on track to enter the clinic in the first half of 2025. In addition to its wholly owned programs, the Company has validating CNS partnerships with AbbVie, Lilly, CRISPR Therapeutics, and the AbbVie partnership was expanded to include ophthalmology disorders. Capsida was founded in 2019 by lead investors Versant Ventures and Westlake Village BioPartners and originated from groundbreaking research in the laboratory of Viviana Gradinaru, Ph.D., a neuroscience professor at Caltech. Visit us at . SOURCE Capsida Biotherapeutics WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED