The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ Biologics License Application (BLA) and granted Priority Review for RP-L201 (marnetegragene autotemcel).
Rocket Pharmaceuticals is a late-stage biotechnology company advancing an integrated and sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies for rare disorders with high unmet need. RP-L201 is a lentiviral vector (LV)-based investigational gene therapy for severe Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), a rare genetic immune disorder that predisposes patients to recurrent and fatal infections and is near-uniformly fatal in childhood without an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Positive top-line data from the global Phase I/II study of RP-L201 demonstrated 100% overall survival at 12 months post-infusion (and for the entire duration of follow-up) for all nine LAD-I patients with 12 to 24 months of available follow-up. Data also showed large decreases compared with pre-treatment history in the incidences of significant infections, combined with evidence of resolution of LAD-I-related skin lesions and restoration of wound repair capabilities. All primary and secondary endpoints were met, and RP-L201 was very well tolerated in all patients with no treatment related SAEs.
“Today’s acceptance of the BLA by the FDA marks a significant milestone for Rocket towards our goal of delivering a one-time gene therapy to patients facing the devastating effects of severe LAD-I. For these patients, survival beyond childhood is uncommon. Bone marrow transplant is currently the only treatment option, has substantial morbidity and mortality, and may not be available in time for these children,” said Kinnari Patel, President and Chief Operating Officer, Rocket Pharma. “We are incredibly grateful to the patients, caregivers and researchers who have shared this journey with us and look forward to continuing our close collaboration with the FDA during the review period as we work to bring RP-L201 to patients as quickly as possible.”
“As the Principal Investigator in the US, I oversaw treatment of six of the nine LAD-I patients in this trial. In my opinion, the results are remarkable. All of these children have been in good health with no significant LAD-I-related infections or inflammatory skin lesions since treatment. Based on what I see, they are all experiencing a normal childhood life, which is the goal of this type of potentially curative gene therapy,” said Donald Kohn, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics, Pediatrics, and Molecular & Medical Pharmacology at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Director of the UCLA Human Gene and Cell Therapy Program.
