Acacia Pharma Announces Initiation of Pivotal Study of Byfavo in Pediatric Procedural Sedation

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

Cambridge, UK and Indianapolis, US – 16 September 2021: 07:00 CET Acacia Pharma Group plc (“Acacia Pharma”, the “Group” or the “Company”) (EURONEXT: ACPH), a hospital pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new products aimed at improving the care of patients undergoing significant treatments such as surgery, other invasive procedures or cancer chemotherapy, announces the initiation of its Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-mandated pivotal study investigating Byfavo (remimazolam injection) in the moderate sedation of pediatric patients (the “Study”).

The study will enroll approximately 100 children aged up to and including 17 years at leading institutions across the United States and Denmark. The Study is expected to take 9-12 months to complete. If successful and upon approval by FDA of a supplemental New Drug Application for Byfavo, it is expected that the US label of Byfavo will be expanded to include moderate sedation for procedures in pediatric patients.

Dr Gabriel Fox, Chief Medical Officer, commented: “The need for moderate sedation in pediatric patients is substantial, covering a wide range of procedures, including, but not limited to, MRI and CT imaging, endoscopies, intravenous cannula placements, dental procedures, and painful wound and burn dressing changes. We are excited to be working with an outstanding group of pediatric sedation experts on this important initiative.”

The Study, formally titled “A Phase 2/3, prospective, open-label trial evaluating the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of remimazolam for intravenous sedation in paediatric patients undergoing diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures” (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04851717), underpins the Pediatric Study Plan for Byfavo agreed with FDA (as well as an equivalent plan agreed by co-sponsor PAION UK Ltd with the European Medicines Agency). As part of the US approval of Byfavo, FDA required the completion of the Study by July 2024; however, the Company has elected to accelerate the conduct of the Study significantly, because of the important unmet medical need for Byfavo in pediatric procedural sedation.