Emerging oral therapy to compete with Teva’s CNS treatment

Pharma News: In addressing the challenges posed by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the most prevalent form of motor neurone disease (MND), Specialised Therapeutics Asia Pte Ltd (ST), an independent biopharmaceutical company has joined forces with Dutch biotechnology leader Treeway BV. This dynamic partnership endeavours to launch the new oral from of edaravone, TW001, in Australia and New Zealand.

This cutting-edge therapy operates by mitigating the oxidative damage intricately linked to the degeneration of neurons in ALS patients. Presently, the pivotal ADORE phase III registration study, spanning across nearly 40 global sites, is evaluating the efficacy of oral edaravone.

According to Australian neurologist, Associate Professor Susan Mathers, an estimated 2000 individuals grapple with MND in Australia at any given time.

“Better disease modifying therapies are urgently needed to slow and potentially halt this disease. Oral therapies like edaravone present the opportunity for a simple to manage therapy which can be taken at home and monitored through each person’s local health care provider,” A/Professor Mathers said.

Echoing this sentiment, MND Australia, eagerly embraced the advent of this oral treatment alternative.

MND Executive Director of Research, Gethin Thomas, commented “Oral edaravone would complement the recent approval of [Teva Pharma’s] intravenous Radicava (edaravone) in Australia and broaden the patient base able to access treatment.”

CEO of ST, Carlo Montagner, articulated the significance of TW001’s integration as the first central nervous system (CNS) therapy into the company’s therapeutic repertoire.

“We are delighted to partner with Treeway as this promising treatment progresses through the final stages of the pivotal global registration ADORE study,” he said. “We look forward to working with the wider MND community, who are determined to access new therapies to treat this terrible disease. “While there is still no cure for MND, we remain hopeful that new therapies such as TW001 may help to slow disease progression and improve outcomes,” he stated.

Expressing optimism for the partnership’s potential, Treeway CEO Inez de Greef extolled the promising results through TW001’s clinical trial data.

“This important therapy has shown very encouraging results in all studies to date. We look forward to further results from the ADORE study and then working with ST to make our therapy available for all eligible patients in Australia and New Zealand who may benefit. ST is focussing on bringing new therapies to the market for diseases with a high medical need and therefore ST fits well as a licensing partner for Treeway,” she commented.

Under the terms of the licensing agreement, ST will be responsible for all marketing, regulatory and distribution activities of TW001 for ALS/MND in Australia and New Zealand.

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