February 25, 2019
Santhera Pharmaceuticals announces results from the SYROS study.
The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term evolution of the respiratory function in patients who maintained treatment with idebenone for up to 6 years compared to their preceding off-idebenone period.
Respiratory Function in DMD
In boys and men with DMD, weakness of respiratory muscles leads to a progressive decline in their ability to move air into/out of their lungs, leading to sleep disturbances and respiratory infections, especially when patients have lost their ability to walk. Studies estimate 55-90% of patients with DMD die from pulmonary complications.
Acute respiratory failure can occur due to:
- Compromised respiratory dysfunction complicated by mucus plugging and further weakening of inspiratory/expiratory muscles
- Repeated cases of pneumonia, hospitalizations and intubations
Decreased ability to cough leads to retained secretions and high risk of recurrent respiratory tract infections.
The result of this study, which is consistent with outcomes from the pivotal DELOS study, demonstrated that:
- Switching to and maintaining long-term treatment with idebenone reduced the annual rate of decline in the forced vital capacity percent of predicted (FVC%p) by 50%. Forced Vital Capacity is one of the tests of lung function. FVC is a kind of forced expiration. (Which reflects the strength of the respiratory muscles)
- The treatment effect was consistently maintained year-on-year for up to 6 years.
- These findings are further supported by consistent reductions in the rate of both inspiratory and expiratory respiratory function loss over the same period.
- Prolonged treatment with idebenone also reduced the risk of important patient-relevant outcomes, including bronchopulmonary adverse events and hospitalizations due to respiratory causes.
“We are very excited to see that the significant treatment effect with idebenone observed in our 52- week Phase III DELOS study is maintained over the long-term. The new findings are highly relevant for DMD patients in respiratory decline who have an urgent need for a therapy to modify the declining course of respiratory function decline and ultimately delay the need for assisted ventilation.” -Kristina Sjöblom Nygren, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Development at Santhera.
About idebenone
Idebenone is a synthetic molecular formula similar to coenzyme Q10. Chemically, it is an organic compound of the family of quinones that can slow the loss of respiratory function.
Mitochondria are specialized structures in the human body that serve as batteries, powering various functions of the cell and the organism as a whole.
Mitochondria produce the energy necessary for the cell functioning through a process called “cellular respiration” which requires oxygen and provides energy. During cellular respiration, some toxic forms of oxygen (called oxygen free radicals) can be produced. These free radicals must be neutralized by other substances to avoid cellular damage.
Idebenone is expected to act as a neutralizer of these toxic forms of oxygen. Thus, idebenone is expected to have an antioxidant effect, and consequently prevent cellular damage.
Idebenone is optimized to dissolve in water and lipids and able to cross the mitochondrial membrane.
Idebenone is a medicine that is under investigation for the treatment of DMD. It has not yet been approved by the U.S. FDA, and the safety and efficacy continue to be evaluated in clinical trials.
Status
Santhera’s Raxone® (idebenone) is authorized in the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Israel and Serbia for the treatment of Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and is currently commercialized in more than 20 countries. For further information, please visit www.santhera.com. Raxone® is a trademark of Santhera Pharmaceuticals.
Santhera has been granted orphan drug designation for Raxone for the treatment of DMD in Europe and the US. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also granted rare pediatric disease designation and Fast Track designation for idebenone for the treatment of DMD. Furthermore, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) designated idebenone as Promising Innovative Medicine (PIM) and as a suitable candidate for entry into Step II of the EAMS process.
About Santhera Pharmaceuticals
Santhera is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative medicines for rare and other diseases with high unmet medical needs. They are focusing on the development of treatments for neuro-ophthalmological, neuromuscular and pulmonary diseases that currently lack treatment options, such as Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) and cystic fibrosis (CF).
