60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SXTP; SXTPW) (60
Degrees Pharmaceuticals or the “Company”), a pharmaceutical company
focused on developing new medicines for infectious diseases,
announced today it has entered into a clinical trial agreement with
Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston to conduct a
double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the safety and
efficacy of
tafenoquine in combination with
standard of care treatment for hospitalized babesiosis patients.
The study, a randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating the efficacy
and safety of tafenoquine in treating
human babesiosis patients is also underway at Tufts Medical Center
in Boston, Yale University, and Rhode Island Hospital, and is
sponsored by 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals. The two main study
endpoints will be the time to sustained clinical resolution of
symptoms and the time to molecular cure as determined by nucleic
acid test (NAT) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA).
At least 24, and as many as 33 patients, will be recruited in
the summer of 2025, with an interim analysis anticipated early in
2026. The interim analysis will include both a test of
significance, and size re-estimation to allow additional
recruitment if required.
“We are pleased to be collaborating with Brigham and Women’s
Hospital on finding answers to the question of how to bring a safe
and effective new treatment option to people hospitalized with
severe babesiosis, a potentially life-threatening tick-borne
illness,” said Geoffrey Dow, PhD, chief executive officer and
president of 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals. “In the near term, this
collaboration promises to substantially enhance our ability to
complete enrollment of this important clinical trial during the
2025 tick season. We look forward to a productive collaboration
with the Hospital.”
A recently published case study series suggested
that tafenoquine combined
with standard-of-care treatment exhibits a high cure rate in
immunosuppressed patients with relapsing babesiosis and for whom
prior treatment has failed. Babesiosis is a steadily emerging,
infectious disease transmitted by a microscopic
parasite, Babesia, through the bite of the black-legged (deer)
tick, the vector that spreads Lyme disease. Babesiosis may be
life-threatening in elderly and immunosuppressed patients. Cases of
babesiosis are rising in the Northeast U.S. and elsewhere.
60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals has found that the total cumulative
accessible market through the end of U.S. patent
protection in December, 2035 for
ARAKODA® (tafenoquine) for babesiosis may
exceed 400,000 patients.
Tafenoquine is approved for malaria
prophylaxis in the United States under the product name
ARAKODA®. The safety of the approved regimen
of tafenoquine for malaria prophylaxis
has been assessed in five separate randomized, double-blind, active
comparator or placebo-controlled trials for durations of up to six
months. Tafenoquine has not been proven
to be effective for treatment or prevention of babesiosis and is
not approved by the FDA for such an indication.
About ARAKODA®
(tafenoquine)Tafenoquine was
discovered by Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Tafenoquine was approved for malaria
prophylaxis in 2018 in the United States as ARAKODA® and
in Australia as KODATEF®. Both were commercially launched
in 2019 and are currently distributed through pharmaceutical
wholesaler networks in each respective country. They are available
at retail pharmacies as a prescription-only malaria prevention
drug. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the long terminal half-life
of tafenoquine, which is approximately 16
days, may offer potential advantages in less- frequent dosing for
prophylaxis for malaria. ARAKODA is not suitable for
everyone, and patients and prescribers should review the Important
Safety Information below. Individuals at risk of contracting
malaria are prescribed ARAKODA 2 x 100 mg tablets once per day for
three days (the loading phase) prior to travel to an area of the
world where malaria is endemic, 2 x 100 mg tablets weekly for up to
six months during travel, then 2 x 100 mg in the week following
travel.
ARAKODA® (tafenoquine) Important Safety
Information ARAKODA® is an antimalarial indicated for the
prophylaxis of malaria in patients aged 18 years of age and
older.
ContraindicationsARAKODA® should not be
administered to:
- Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (“G6PD”) deficiency or
unknown G6PD status;
- Breastfeeding by a lactating woman when the infant is found to
be G6PD deficient or if
- G6PD status is unknown;
- Patients with a history of psychotic disorders or current
psychotic symptoms; or
- Known hypersensitivity reactions to
tafenoquine, other 8-aminoquinolines, or any
component of ARAKODA®.
Warnings and PrecautionsHemolytic
Anemia: G6PD testing must be performed before prescribing
ARAKODA® due to the risk of hemolytic anemia. Monitor patients for
signs or symptoms of hemolysis.G6PD Deficiency in Pregnancy
or Lactation: ARAKODA® may cause fetal harm when
administered to a pregnant woman with a G6PD-deficient fetus.
ARAKODA® is not recommended during pregnancy. A G6PD-deficient
infant may be at risk for hemolytic anemia from exposure to
ARAKODA® through breast milk. Check infant’s G6PD status before
breastfeeding begins.Methemoglobinemia:
Asymptomatic elevations in blood methemoglobin have been observed.
Initiate appropriate therapy if signs or symptoms of
methemoglobinemia occur.Psychiatric Effects:
Serious psychotic adverse reactions have been observed in patients
with a history of psychosis or schizophrenia, at doses different
from the approved dose. If psychotic symptoms (hallucinations,
delusions, or grossly disorganized thinking or behavior) occur,
consider discontinuation of ARAKODA® therapy and evaluation by a
mental health professional as soon as
possible.Hypersensitivity Reactions: Serious
hypersensitivity reactions have been observed with administration
of ARAKODA®. If hypersensitivity reactions occur, institute
appropriate therapy. Delayed Adverse Reactions:
Due to the long half-life of ARAKODA® (approximately 17 days),
psychiatric effects, hemolytic anemia, methemoglobinemia, and
hypersensitivity reactions may be delayed in onset and/or duration.
Adverse Reactions: The most common adverse
reactions (incidence greater than or equal to 1 percent) were:
headache, dizziness, back pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting,
increased alanine aminotransferase, motion sickness, insomnia,
depression, abnormal dreams, and anxiety.
Drug Interactions Avoid co-administration with
drugs that are substrates of organic cation transporter-2 or
multidrug and toxin extrusion transporters.
Use in Specific Populations Lactation: Advise
women not to breastfeed a G6PD-deficient infant or infant with
unknown G6PD status during treatment and for 3 months after the
last dose of ARAKODA®. To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS,
contact 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. at 1-
888-834-0225 or the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088
or www.fda.gov/medwatch. The full prescribing information of
ARAKODA® is located here.
About 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc.60
Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc., founded in 2010, specializes in
developing and marketing new medicines for the treatment and
prevention of infectious diseases that affect the lives of millions
of people. 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. achieved FDA approval
of its lead product, ARAKODA® (tafenoquine), for
malaria prevention, in 2018. 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. also
collaborates with prominent research organizations in the U.S.,
Australia, and Singapore. The 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
mission has been supported through in-kind funding from the U.S.
Department of Defense and private institutional investors including
Knight Therapeutics Inc., a Canadian-based pan-American specialty
pharmaceutical company. 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is
headquartered in Washington D.C., with a majority-owned subsidiary
in Australia. Learn more at www.60degreespharma.com.
The statements contained herein may include prospects,
statements of future expectations and other forward-looking
statements that are based on management's current views and
assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from
those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.
This press release may contain “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward‐looking
statements reflect the current view about future events. When used
in this press release, the words “anticipate,” “believe,”
“estimate,” “expect,” “future,” “intend,” “plan,” or the negative
of these terms and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our
management, identify forward‐looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future
performance. Instead, they are based only on our current
beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the
future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections,
anticipated events and trends, the economy, activities of
regulators and future regulations and other future conditions.
Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are
subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in
circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are
outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition
may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking
statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these
forward-looking statements.
Important factors that could cause our actual results and
financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in
the forward-looking statements include, among others, the
following: there is substantial doubt as to our ability to continue
on a going-concern basis; we might not be eligible for Australian
government research and development tax rebates; if we are not able
to successfully develop, obtain FDA approval for, and provide for
the commercialization of non- malaria prevention indications for
tafenoquine (ARAKODA® or other regimen) or
Celgosivir in a timely manner, we may not be able to expand our
business operations; we may not be able to successfully conduct
planned clinical trials or patient recruitment in our trials might
be slow or negligible; and we have no manufacturing capacity which
puts us at risk of lengthy and costly delays of bringing our
products to market. More detailed information about the
Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of
forward- looking statements is set forth in the Company’s filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”),
including the information contained in our Annual Report on Form
10-K filed with the SEC on April 1, 2024, and our subsequent SEC
filings. Investors and security holders are urged to read these
documents free of charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
As a result of these matters, changes in facts, assumptions not
being realized or other circumstances, the Company’s actual results
may differ materially from the expected results discussed in the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Any
forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based
only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of
the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to
publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or
oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of
new information, future developments or otherwise.
Media Contact:Sheila A.
BurkeSheilaBurke-consultant@60degreespharma.com(484) 667-6330
Investor Contact:Patrick
Gaynespatrickgaynes@60degreespharma.com(310) 989-5666
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