Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target
action date is March 31, 2024
RP-L201 has received FDA Regenerative Medicine
Advanced Therapy (RMAT), Rare Pediatric, Fast Track and Orphan Drug
designations; Rocket eligible for Priority Review Voucher, if
RP-L201 is approved
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT), a leading
late-stage biotechnology company advancing an integrated and
sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies for rare disorders with
high unmet need, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has accepted the Biologics License Application
(BLA) and granted Priority Review for RP-L201 (marnetegragene
autotemcel), a lentiviral vector (LV)-based investigational gene
therapy for severe Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), a rare
genetic immune disorder that predisposes patients to recurrent and
fatal infections and is near-uniformly fatal in childhood without
an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The PDUFA date
set by the FDA is March 31, 2024.
“Today’s acceptance of the BLA by the FDA marks a significant
milestone for Rocket towards our goal of delivering a one-time gene
therapy to patients facing the devastating effects of severe LAD-I.
For these patients, survival beyond childhood is uncommon. Bone
marrow transplant is currently the only treatment option, has
substantial morbidity and mortality, and may not be available in
time for these children,” said Kinnari Patel, Pharm.D., MBA,
President and Chief Operating Officer, Rocket Pharma. “We are
incredibly grateful to the patients, caregivers and researchers who
have shared this journey with us and look forward to continuing our
close collaboration with the FDA during the review period as we
work to bring RP-L201 to patients as quickly as possible.”
Positive top-line data from the global Phase 1/2 study of
RP-L201 demonstrated 100% overall survival at 12 months
post-infusion (and for the entire duration of follow-up) for all
nine LAD-I patients with 12 to 24 months of available follow-up.
Data also showed large decreases compared with pre-treatment
history in the incidences of significant infections, combined with
evidence of resolution of LAD-I-related skin lesions and
restoration of wound repair capabilities. All primary and secondary
endpoints were met, and RP-L201 was very well tolerated in all
patients with no treatment related SAEs.
“As the Principal Investigator in the U.S., I oversaw treatment
of six of the nine LAD-I patients in this trial. In my opinion, the
results are remarkable. All of these children have been in good
health with no significant LAD-I-related infections or inflammatory
skin lesions since treatment. Based on what I see, they are all
experiencing a normal childhood life, which is the goal of this
type of potentially curative gene therapy,” said Donald B. Kohn,
M.D., Distinguished Professor of Microbiology, Immunology &
Molecular Genetics, Pediatrics, and Molecular & Medical
Pharmacology at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and
Director of the UCLA Human Gene and Cell Therapy Program.
About RP-L201 (marnetegragene autotemcel)
RP-L201 is an investigational gene therapy that contains
autologous (patient-derived) hematopoietic stem cells that have
been genetically modified with a lentiviral vector to deliver a
functional copy of the ITGB2 gene, which encodes for the beta-2
integrin component CD18, a key protein that facilitates leukocyte
adhesion and enables their extravasation from blood vessels to
fight infection. Rocket holds FDA Regenerative Medicine Advanced
Therapy (RMAT), Rare Pediatric, and Fast Track designations in the
U.S., PRIME and Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP)
designations in the EU, and Orphan Drug designation in both regions
for the program. RP-L201 was in-licensed from the Centro de
Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas
(CIEMAT), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades
Raras and Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez
Díaz. The lentiviral vector was developed in a collaboration
between UCL and CIEMAT.
About Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I
Severe Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I) is a rare,
autosomal recessive pediatric disease caused by mutations in the
ITGB2 gene encoding for the beta-2 integrin component CD18. CD18 is
a key protein that facilitates leukocyte adhesion and extravasation
from blood vessels to combat infections. As a result, children with
severe LAD-I are often affected immediately after birth. During
infancy, they suffer from recurrent life-threatening bacterial and
fungal infections that respond poorly to antibiotics and require
frequent hospitalizations. Children who survive infancy experience
recurrent severe infections including pneumonia, gingival ulcers,
necrotic skin ulcers, and septicemia. Without a successful bone
marrow transplant, survival beyond childhood is rare. LAD-I is
estimated to impact an estimated 800 to 1,000 individuals in the
U.S. and Europe. Currently the only potential curative treatment is
an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, which may not be
available in time for these children and itself has substantial
morbidity and mortality. There is a high unmet medical need for
patients with severe LAD-I.
Rocket’s LAD-I research is made possible by a grant from the
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (Grant Number
CLIN2-11480). The contents of this press release are solely the
responsibility of Rocket and do not necessarily represent the
official views of CIRM or any other agency of the State of
California.
About Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT) is advancing an
integrated and sustainable pipeline of investigational genetic
therapies designed to correct the root cause of complex and rare
disorders. The Company’s platform-agnostic approach enables it to
design the best therapy for each indication, creating potentially
transformative options for patients afflicted with rare genetic
diseases. Rocket's clinical programs using lentiviral vector
(LV)-based gene therapy are for the treatment of Fanconi Anemia
(FA), a difficult to treat genetic disease that leads to bone
marrow failure and potentially cancer, Leukocyte Adhesion
Deficiency-I (LAD-I), a severe pediatric genetic disorder that
causes recurrent and life-threatening infections which are
frequently fatal, and Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), a rare,
monogenic red blood cell disorder resulting in increased red cell
destruction and mild to life-threatening anemia. Rocket’s first
clinical program using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene
therapy is for Danon Disease, a devastating, pediatric heart
failure condition. Rocket also is developing AAV-based gene therapy
programs in PKP2-arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) and
BAG3-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). For more information
about Rocket, please visit www.rocketpharma.com.
Rocket Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
Various statements in this release concerning Rocket’s future
expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation,
Rocket’s expectations regarding the safety and effectiveness of
product candidates that Rocket is developing to treat Fanconi
Anemia (FA), Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), Pyruvate
Kinase Deficiency (PKD), Danon Disease (DD) and other diseases, the
expected timing and data readouts of Rocket’s ongoing and planned
clinical trials, the expected timing and outcome of Rocket’s
regulatory interactions and planned submissions, Rocket’s plans for
the advancement of its Danon Disease program, including its planned
pivotal trial, and the safety, effectiveness and timing of related
pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, may constitute
forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor
provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 and other federal securities laws and are subject to
substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions. You should not
place reliance on these forward-looking statements, which often
include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend,"
"plan," "will give," "estimate," "seek," "will," "may," "suggest"
or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of those
terms. Although Rocket believes that the expectations reflected in
the forward-looking statements are reasonable, Rocket cannot
guarantee such outcomes. Actual results may differ materially from
those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of
various important factors, including, without limitation, Rocket’s
ability to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on its business
operations and take steps to ensure the safety of patients,
families and employees, the interest from patients and families for
participation in each of Rocket’s ongoing trials, our expectations
regarding the delays and impact of COVID-19 on clinical sites,
patient enrollment, trial timelines and data readouts, our
expectations regarding our drug supply for our ongoing and
anticipated trials, actions of regulatory agencies, which may
affect the initiation, timing and progress of pre-clinical studies
and clinical trials of its product candidates, Rocket’s dependence
on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales and
distribution of product candidates, the outcome of litigation, and
unexpected expenditures, as well as those risks more fully
discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Rocket’s Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed
February 28, 2023 with the SEC and subsequent filings with the SEC
including our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Accordingly, you
should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. All such statements speak only as of the date made, and
Rocket undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231002809583/en/
Media Kevin Giordano media@rocketpharma.com
Investors Brooks Rahmer investors@rocketpharma.com
Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2025 to Mar 2025
Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Mar 2025