Provention Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRVB), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to intercepting and preventing immune-mediated disease, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) for the Company's Biologics License Application (BLA) for teplizumab for the delay of clinical type 1 diabetes (T1D) in at-risk individuals.
In the CRL, received late evening on July 2nd, 2021, the FDA stated that a single, low-dose pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) bridging study in healthy volunteers to compare planned commercial product with drug product originating from drug substance manufactured for historic clinical trials had failed to show PK comparability. "As PK remains the primary endpoint for demonstration of comparability between the two products, you will need to establish PK comparability appropriately between the intended commercial product and the clinical trial product or provide other data that adequately justify why PK comparability is not necessary."
The Company expects relevant additional PK/PD data being, or to be, collected from a PK/PD substudy in patients receiving 12-days of therapy in the ongoing Phase 3 PROTECT trial in newly diagnosed T1D patients later this quarter. These data will be analyzed by independent, unblinded third-parties to maintain the integrity of this placebo-controlled trial. Upon review of the results from this substudy, the Company will determine whether to submit these data to the FDA for its review, along with any other relevant data and analyses based on our ongoing discussions with FDA, to support PK comparability or otherwise justify why PK comparability is not necessary.
In the CRL, the FDA cited several additional considerations related to product quality, which the Company believes have either been addressed in amendments already submitted to the BLA or can be addressed in the short-term. The CRL acknowledged that the FDA had not reviewed several amendments already submitted by the Company in response to certain Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) information requests.
The FDA also stated that certain deficiencies conveyed during a recent general inspection, not specific to teplizumab, at a fill/finish manufacturing facility used by the Company will need to be resolved before approval.
The CRL did not cite any clinical deficiencies related to the efficacy and safety data packages submitted to the BLA and confirmed the acceptability of the proposed proprietary name for teplizumab. The FDA requested that the Company provide a safety update as part of its BLA resubmission. The CRL contained other comments and recommendations that do not impact approvability, as well as general guidance regarding the resubmission process.
"We want to recognize the patients, their families, study investigators, clinicians and T1D champions that have played such a crucial role in the development of teplizumab and thank our partners and our team of dedicated employees and consultants for their outstanding contributions. We also want to acknowledge the efforts of Drs. Yanoff and Unger and the review team at the FDA, who have worked so closely and transparently with us throughout the priority review of our BLA for this Breakthrough Therapy drug," said Ashleigh Palmer, co-founder and CEO of Provention Bio. "We know the T1D community is urgently awaiting therapeutic advancements to address their medical needs and believe our collective passion and committment will continue to drive us forward to meet this goal. We will continue to work collaboratively with the FDA to hopefully secure approval of teplizumab and bring the first disease-modifying therapy for T1D to at-risk patients as soon as possible."
The Unmet Need in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D)
Over 1.6 million Americans have T1D, an autoimmune disease caused by the destruction of beta cells. Diagnosis of T1D usually occurs in children and young adults, but it can happen at any age after symptoms appear when a person cannot make enough insulin. However, T1D starts in the body long before any symptoms and can be detected through a blood test. The psychological impact of T1D is hard to quantify, but a diagnosis is life-altering, and regular monitoring and maintenance can be extremely stressful. T1D typically takes more than a decade off a person's life, and life expectancy is redu...
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