ABIVAX: ABX203 (HeberNasvac) Granted Cuban Marketing Authorization to Treat Chronic Hepatitis B
December 08, 2015 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
“The immune responses observed in CHB patients receiving ABX203, during clinical testing, clearly show that the therapeutic vaccine is able to help patients overcome the immune paralysis which is so typical for the chronic form of the disease”
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ABIVAX (Paris:ABVX) (Euronext Paris: FR0012333284 – ABVX), an emerging leader in developing and commercializing anti-viral and vaccine therapies for diseases like HIV/AIDS and chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) and the Center for genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), a global leader in biotechnology, today announced that CECMED, the Cuban regulatory authorities, granted the CIGB their first marketing authorization application for ABX203, a first-in-class therapeutic vaccine for treatment of CHB, under the trade name HeberNasvac.
“The immune responses observed in CHB patients receiving ABX203, during clinical testing, clearly show that the therapeutic vaccine is able to help patients overcome the immune paralysis which is so typical for the chronic form of the disease,” said Gerardo Guillen, PhD, Director of Biomedical Research at the CIGB in Havana. “The previous studies with ABX203 provided clinical proof of the concept of therapeutic vaccination in chronic Hepatitis B. ABX203 (HerberNasvac) has demonstrated a unique sustained effect, which was achieved with a shorter duration of administration and better tolerability than peg-interferon (PEG - IFNα). In other words, the data indicate that ABX203 could deliver considerable therapeutic advantages over standard treatments for patients suffering from CHB.”
ABX203 is formulated as a nasal spray solution and as a solution for sub-cutaneous injection and has been designed to induce neutralizing serum antibodies to HBsAg as well as strong cellular responses, which are weak or undetectable in patients with CHB. The therapeutic vaccine is composed of 2 recombinant proteins from the Hepatitis B virus (HBV), the surface antigen (HBsAg) and the nucleocapsid (core) antigen (HBcAg).
ABIVAX owns development and commercial rights for ABX203 for more than 80 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa. These rights were licensed in 2013 from the CIGB following the completion of successful phase I, I/II and III clinical trials run in Cuba and Bangladesh. These studies showed that ABX203 was well tolerated and had an antiviral effect similar to that of PEG- IFNα. In addition, the effect on HBV viral load was sustained for a longer period of time. This unique prolonged efficacy, after shorter, more convenient administration, suggests that ABX203 offers considerable therapeutic advantages and improved compliance over standard treatments for CHB.
Professor Hartmut Ehrlich, M.D., CEO of ABIVAX commented: “We are very pleased with this first Marketing Authorization Approval (MAA) approval for ABX203. It represents a significant milestone for the CIGB, ABIVAX and, most importantly, patients suffering from chronic Hepatitis B. We are looking forward to making this long lasting treatment available to the millions of patients who currently need daily, life-long treatment to control this devastating disease.”
The CIGB has a track record of successful market introductions, reflecting the quality and standard of their products. For example, their prophylactic vaccine for Hepatitis B is registered in more than 50 countries, and more than 200 million doses have been administered, leading to an international reputation for excellence.
Furthermore, this first MAA in Cuba will allow rapid filing of the data used by the Cuban regulatory authorities, for marketing authorization applications in some key ABIVAX countries.
Additionally, ABIVAX is currently conducting its own late-stage «pivotal» phase IIb/III clinical trial with ABX203. This controlled, randomized, blinded study is already fully recruited (276 patients) and is being conducted at over 40 clinical centers in seven Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, New-Zealand, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and South Korea). The results are expected to be reported in the fourth quarter of 2016.
In this ongoing pivotal study, one group of patients is receiving for 24 weeks ABX203 plus the current standard of care (nucleotide analogues, NUCs) and the control group is receiving NUCs only. All therapy is stopped after 24 weeks of combination treatment. The study’s primary efficacy endpoint is the percentage of subjects with viral load <40 IU/mL 24 weeks after the treatment with ABX203 has been completed. Study results are expected, if positive, to support further approvals of ABX203, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where the majority of the patients with CHB reside.
About Chronic Hepatitis
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major public health problem which has an important deleterious socioeconomic impact worldwide. Chronic HBV infection (CHB) causes or contributes to development of a broad spectrum of liver disease and early mortality.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 2 billion people worldwide have been infected with HBV, and more than 350 million people, or 5% of the world’s population, suffer from lifelong CHB infections. CHB infection is an established cause of cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer. It is the cause of up to 80% of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). Around 1 to 1.5 million people die every year due to the consequences of hepatitis B.
With nearly 200 million people worldwide with CHB, South-East Asia and the Pacific Regions account for 1⁄4 of the world population and bears 30% of world’s total disease burden. In Europe there are estimated to be 14 million people suffering from CHB.
ABIVAX is an emerging global leader in the discovery, development and commercialization of anti-viral therapeutics and vaccines to treat some of the world’s most life-threatening infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and chronic Hepatitis B. ABIVAX has 2 compounds in clinical stage research: ABX464 a novel first-in-class resistance-proof oral small molecule HIV/AIDS therapy; and, ABX203, a therapeutic vaccine that could cure chronic Hepatitis B. ABIVAX also is advancing additional anti-viral compounds and therapeutic vaccines that may enter the clinical stage in the coming 18 months. A recently updated corporate presentation, which includes a timeline for the company’s anticipated news flow, is available at www.abivax.com .
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Chris Maggos, +41 79 367 6254 [email protected] 作者: StephenW 时间: 2015-12-9 17:47
Phase III study of a therapeutic vaccine candidate (NASVAC)
containing the hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBcAg)
and the HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) for treatment of patients
with chronic hepatitis B
Mamun-Al-Mahtab 1, Mohammed Fazle Akbar 2, Julio Ce´sar
Aguilar 3, Vincent Serra 4, Salimur Rahman 1, Pascale Berthillon 5,
Christian Trepo 5, Josianne Nitcheu 4, Pierre Vandepapelie`re 4,
Gerardo Enrique Guillen Nieto 3
1Department of Hepatology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University,Dhaka,Bangladesh,
2 Toshiba General Hospital, Tokyo,
Japan,
3 Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Havana,
Cuba,
4 Wittycell, Evry, France,
5 INSERM 1052/CRCL, Lyon France
Background and aims: Curative therapies for patients with chronic
Hepatitis B (CHB) include pegylated interferon-alpha (pegIFN-a) and
nucleot(s)ide analogues (NUCs). However, pegIFN-a is effective in
approximately one-third of the treated patients only, while the need for
long term treatment is the main limitation of NUCs. Because immune
responses are impaired in patients suffering from CHB, therapeutic
vaccination has become an important strategy to help viral clearance, by
stimulating patients’ hepatitis B specific immune responses. We have
developed a therapeutic vaccine candidate (NASVAC) which is based
on the use of a combination of recombinant HBsAg and HBcAg. We
conducted a phase III clinical study in Bangladesh to evaluate the
clinical efficacy of repeated intranasal/subcutaneous immunizations of
NASVAC to CHB patients to reduce serum HBV DNA levels and to
induce HBsAg/HBeAg clearance or seroconversion.
Methods: One hundred and sixty subjects (of whom 20 % were
HbeAg positive and 80 % HBeAg negative) naı¨ve to anti-HBV
treatment for at least 6 months were randomly assigned to one of the
two following regimens: either NASVAC (100 mcg antigen per
dose), five intranasal (IN) inoculations every 14 days during the first
cycle followed by 5 IN and 5 subcutaneous (SC) inoculations every
14 days during the second cycle of inoculation for a total duration of
24 weeks or weekly SC injections of pegIFN-a for 48 weeks. Patients
in both groups were evaluated over time at week 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96
after beginning of the treatment for serum HBVDNA (quantitative
PCR), ALT, AST, HBeAg, HBsAg, and for safety.
Results: NASVAC was safe and well tolerated inducing reactions
similar to those caused by pegIFN-a but less frequently and less
severe. Both treatments induced a strong and similar antiviral
response during therapy. After cessation of treatment HBV DNA
levels increased again in both groups, but at very different rates. At
week 72 (24 weeks after the end of pegIFN-a treatment and 48 weeks
after the end of NASVAC treatment), the HBV DNA levels were
significantly lower in the NASVAC group than in the pegIFN-a group
(p = 0.03), with almost 80 % of NASVAC treated patients remaining
under 10’000 c/mL. This delayed rebound in the NASVAC group
suggests a sustained antiviral effect as compared to the pegIFN-a
group. Similarly, while at the end of treatment the percentage of
patients with HBeAg loss was similar in both groups (NASVAC 50 %
at week 24; pegIFN-a 55 % at week 48), at week 96 the percentages
in the NASVAC and pegIFN-a groups were 62 and 33 %
respectively. The level of HBsAg in the pegIFN-a group decreased
following treatment until W48, and then increased back to the baseline
levels at W96. However, while no difference in the level of
HBsAg was found from baseline until W72 in the NASVAC group,
the treatment had a significant influence on lowering the HBsAg at
W96 follow-up (p = 0.0074).
Conclusions: The data presented here demonstrate that therapeutic
vaccination with NASVAC has a profound antiviral effect that is
more sustained than pegIFN-a after the end of treatment. This delayed
viral rebound is accompanied by a sustained HBeAg loss. These
results do support further developments to evaluate the therapeutic
potential of NASVAC in endemic regions.
参加试药的队员,是否含免疫耐受者? 有可能.
一百六十人(其中20%为HBeAg阳性和80%HBeAg阴性), 之前没有治疗.
One hundred and sixty subjects (of whom 20 % were
HbeAg positive and 80 % HBeAg negative)naı¨ve to anti-HBV
treatment for at least 6 months作者: hchu 时间: 2015-12-10 21:44
In the last six months, according to HBeAg serostatus, for:
HBeAg (-) patients, with a) baseline HBV DNA ≥ 103 and b) raised serum ALT (x >1 ULN) or significant hepatic necroinflammation and/or fibrosis (HAI-NI>4 and/or HAI-F >2) or liver stiffness >7.2 KPa.
HBeAg (+) patients, with a) baseline HBV DNA ≥ 104 and b) and raised serum ALT (x >1.5 ULN) or significant hepatic necroinflammation and or fibrosis (HAI-NI>4 and/or HAI-F >2) or liver stiffness >7.2 KPa.作者: mingbai 时间: 2015-12-10 23:23