News about Golodirsen, Skipping Exon 53
Sarepta Therapeutics completes submission of New Drug Application seeking approval of golodirsen in patients with DMD amenable to skipping exon 53
Press Release here
Golodirsen has been studied for the treatment of exon 53 amenable patients, approximately eight percent of patients with DMD. Submission represents ongoing advancement of the company’s proprietary PMO RNA-based platform.
Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it had completed the submission of its New Drug Application (NDA) seeking accelerated approval for golodirsen (SRP-4053), a phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer engineered to treat those patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who have genetic mutations subject to skipping exon 53 of the Duchenne gene.
If the golodirsen NDA is filed and granted accelerated approval, the company’s ESSENCE study (4045-301) could serve as a post-marketing confirmatory study. ESSENCE, which is underway, is a global, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study assessing the safety and efficacy of golodirsen and casimersen, their exon 45 skipping therapy.
“We are grateful for the patients and clinicians who have participated in the study with an aim to advance treatment for all patients with Duchenne,”
“Sarepta is committed to developing therapies to benefit the greatest possible percentage of patients affected by Duchenne. Our proprietary PMO technology remains central to our commitment to patients with Duchenne. Combined, EXONDYS 51® (eteplirsen), golodirsen, and casimersen have the potential to treat nearly 30 percent of patients with Duchenne.” Said DOUGLAS S. INGRAM, President & CEO
About Golodirsen
Golodirsen exon-skipping technology to skip exon 53 of the DMD gene. Exon skipping is intended to allow for the production of an internally truncated but functional dystrophin protein.
Golodirsen uses Sarepta’s proprietary phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO)* chemistry and exon-skipping technology to skip exon 53 of the DMD gene. Golodirsen is designed to bind to exon 53 of dystrophin pre-mRNA, resulting in exclusion, or “skipping,” of this exon during mRNA processing in patients with genetic mutations that are amenable to exon 53 skipping. Exon skipping is intended to allow for the production of an internally truncated but functional dystrophin protein.
Golodirsen is one of the investigational candidates currently being evaluated in the ESSENCE study, a global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating efficacy and safety in patients amenable to skipping exons 45 or 53.
*a phosphorodiamidate Morpholino oligomer (PMO), is a type of oligomer molecule (colloquially, an oligo) used in molecular biology to modify gene expression.
More about dystrophin
Dystrophin is a protein found in muscle cells that, while present in extremely small amounts (about 0.002 percent of total muscle protein), is crucial in strengthening and protecting muscle fibers. A devastating and incurable muscle-wasting disease, DMD is associated with specific errors in the gene that codes for dystrophin, a protein that plays a key structural role in muscle fiber function.
