CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBAY), a biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative therapies for patients with liver and other chronic diseases, today announced it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for investigational treatment, seladelpar, for the management of primary biliary cholangitis, including pruritus in adults without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis (Child Pugh A) who are inadequate responders or intolerant to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). CymaBay has requested a Priority Review of the NDA that, if accepted, would mean the FDA would plan to complete its review within six months of accepting the application.
Seladelpar has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the FDA and is the only potent, selective, orally active delpar, or PPARδ agonist, with Phase 3 trial results demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in markers of cholestasis related to risk of progression and PBC-related pruritus. The comprehensive NDA application is supported by robust data evaluating the efficacy and tolerability profile of seladelpar in more than 500 participants with PBC in the placebo-controlled Phase 3 RESPONSE and ENHANCE studies, the long-term open-label ASSURE study, as well as in prior Phase 2 studies.
Breakthrough Therapy Designation is granted by the FDA to investigational agents intended to treat a serious condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that it may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapy on a clinically significant endpoint. FDA updated the Breakthrough Therapy Designation for seladelpar in October 2023 in recognition of data that indicates seladelpar may provide meaningful improvement over existing therapy based on a reduction in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and improvement in pruritus in patients without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis.
“People living with PBC need new treatment options to reduce the risk of disease progression and the daily impact of their disease from debilitating symptoms like pruritus. Today’s announcement of our submission of the NDA for seladelpar is an important milestone in our ongoing work to bring forward new innovative therapies with the potential to help people living with PBC,” said Klara Dickinson, Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer, CymaBay Therapeutics. “We would like to extend our thanks to the participants, their families, and all the investigators who have taken part in studies of seladelpar to date, which together have enabled the clinical development and submission of seladelpar for FDA approval. We now look forward to working with the FDA to secure validation of the application and throughout its review.”
CymaBay intends to file marketing authorization applications to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the first half of 2024. Seladelpar has received Priority Medicines (PRIME) status from the EMA, as part of the program to optimize development plans and speed up evaluation of priority medicines so they can reach patients earlier.