FDA Grants Orphan Drug Designation to MAIA Biotechnology for THIO as a Treatment for Glioblastoma - Seite 2

Enrollment is ongoing in a Phase 2 trial of THIO, THIO-101, evaluating the drug candidate in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). THIO is the only direct telomere targeting agent currently in clinical development.

About Orphan Drug Designation

The FDA’s Orphan Drug Act of 1983 was designed to incentivize the development of therapies that demonstrate promise for the treatment of rare (orphan) diseases or conditions. A disease is classified as “rare” if it affects fewer than 200,000 people total in the U.S., or if the cost of developing a drug and making it available in the U.S. for such diseases will exceed any potential profits from its sale due to the small target population size. The FDA’s ODD program provides multiple incentives to make orphan drug development more financially possible for companies to pursue, such as up to seven years of market exclusivity for the approved orphan drug, up to 20 years of 25% federal tax credit for expenses incurred in conducting clinical research within the U.S. and waiver of Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) fees for orphan drugs, a value of approximately $2.9 million in 2021.

About THIO

THIO (6-thio-dG or 6-thio-2’-deoxyguanosine) is a first-in-class investigational telomere-targeting agent currently in clinical development to evaluate its activity in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Telomeres, along with the enzyme telomerase, play a fundamental role in the survival of cancer cells and their resistance to current therapies. The modified nucleotide 6-thio-2’-deoxyguanosine (THIO) induces telomerase-dependent telomeric DNA modification, DNA damage responses, and selective cancer cell death. THIO-damaged telomeric fragments accumulate in cytosolic micronuclei and activates both innate (cGAS/STING) and adaptive (T-cell) immune responses. The sequential treatment with THIO followed by PD-(L)1 inhibitors resulted in profound and persistent tumor regression in advanced, in vivo cancer models by induction of cancer type–specific immune memory. THIO is presently developed as a second or later line of treatment for NSCLC for patients that have progressed beyond the standard-of-care regimen of existing checkpoint inhibitors.