Santhera receives FDA Fast Track Designation for Raxone/Catena for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Santhera Pharmaceuticals has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for Santhera’s Raxone®/Catena® (idebenone) for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

DMD is one of the most common and devastating types of muscle degeneration and results in rapidly progressive muscle weakness. It is a genetic, degenerative disease that is inherited in an X-linked recessive mode with an incidence of up to 1 in 3,500 live born males worldwide. DMD is characterized by a loss of the protein dystrophin, leading to cell damage, impaired calcium homeostasis, elevated oxidative stress and reduced energy production in muscle cells.

FDA’s Fast Track program facilitates the development and review of important drugs intended to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need for the purpose of getting them to the patient earlier. Santhera previously announced that the Phase III trial (DELOS) in DMD met its primary endpoint and demonstrated that Raxone/Catena delayed the loss of respiratory function.

Santhera are preparing a New Drug Application for Raxone/Catena

“We are very pleased that the FDA has granted Fast Track designation for Raxone/Catena, which further underscores the unmet medical need for effective treatments for patients with DMD,” commented Thomas Meier, PhD, CEO of Santhera. “On the basis of the positive data from our Phase III trial with Raxone/Catena in DMD, we have started to prepare a New Drug Application and plan to meet with the FDA in the coming weeks to discuss our NDA dossier in a pre-NDA meeting.”

For more information about Santhera, please visit www.santhera.com.