Oragenics announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to AG013, the Company’s lead therapeutic candidate for the treatment of OM. Oragenics expects to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) update and initiate a Phase 2 study with AG013 in the United States and Europe in early 2017.
“We are pleased that AG013 has received this Fast Track designation which aims to help get important new drugs for unmet clinical needs to patients earlier,” said Alan Joslyn, Oragenics’ Chief Executive Officer and President. “This is another significant milestone in the path providing a new therapy for cancer patients who develop oral mucositis.”
AG013 is an ActoBiotics™ therapeutic candidate formulated as a convenient oral rinsing solution and designed by Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON) to deliver the therapeutic molecule Trefoil Factor 1 (TFF1) to the mucosal tissues in the oral cavity. Trefoil Factors are a class of peptides involved in protection of gastrointestinal tissues against mucosal damage and have an important role in subsequent repair. In addition to this Fast Track designation, AG013 has already been granted Orphan Drug status in the European Union.
A Phase 1B clinical trial with AG013 in 25 head and neck cancer patients at high risk for OM demonstrated that AG013 was safe and well tolerated. Data published in the journal Cancer showed a 35% reduction in the duration of ulcerative OM in AG013-treated patients versus placebo treated patients. Additionally over 30% of patients treated with AG013 were complete responders, defined as patients who did not develop OM, while all patients receiving placebo developed OM. A Phase 1 pharmacokinetic study in 10 healthy volunteers showed that live AG013 L. lactis adhered to the entire oral mucosal surface up to 24 hours after administration of the rinse.
Under an Exclusive Channel Collaboration Agreement with Intrexon, Oragenics has an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize AG013 to treat oral mucositis in cancer patients.
