Chase Pharma Presents Phase 2 Results For CPC-201 At 2016 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chase Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Chase), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of improved treatments for neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, announced today the presentation of results from its Phase 2 study of Chase’s lead compound CPC-201. CPC-201 is a patent-protected combination of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) donepezil, and the peripherally acting cholinergic blocker, solifenacin, for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease type dementia.

“We believe that adverse events have long limited AChEI dosing to suboptimal levels, in turn limiting the efficacy of donepezil and other AChEIs”

The CPC-201 Phase 2 results, presented by Thomas Chase, MD, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Chase, and the former Scientific Director and head of the Experimental Therapeutics Branch for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, confirmed that solifenacin attenuated donepezil adverse events, enabling the tolerable administration of doses of donepezil to as much as 400 percent of the current standard treatment of donepezil. Secondary endpoints provided signals of enhanced efficacy, as would be predicted from increased tolerable dosing of donepezil. The data were presented during an oral session at the 2016 Alzheimer’s Association Conference (AAIC) in Toronto, Canada, July 24 – 28 (Abstract a12446).

“We believe that adverse events have long limited AChEI dosing to suboptimal levels, in turn limiting the efficacy of donepezil and other AChEIs,” said Thomas Chase, M.D. “Our Phase 2 findings, together with those from our earlier Phase 1 studies, robustly support our hypothesis that the co-formulation of a peripheral anticholinergic with donepezil enables the safe and tolerable administration of multiples of the current standard of care doses of AChEI such as donepezil.”

The primary endpoint of this Phase 2 single-blind, crossover trial was to safely increase the tolerated dose of donepezil from 10 mg/day up to as much as 40 mg/day. This trial consisted of 41 moderate (MMSE 10-20) Alzheimer’s type subjects who were being successfully treated with 10 mg/day of donepezil. The anticholinergic solifenacin was first titrated to 15 mg/day and then donepezil escalated to each subject’s maximum tolerated dose or to the protocol limit of 40 mg/day. Subjects then continued for a three-month maintenance period. All subjects were able to tolerably maintain above the currently approved doses of donepezil and 85 percent of subjects reached and tolerated the maximum allowable donepezil dose of 40 mg/day. Moreover, in the maintenance phase of the trial, subjects experienced significantly less dose-limiting side effects than those that would be predicted for 10 mg/day of donepezil.

Although this Phase 2 study was not designed nor powered to provide meaningful estimates of anti-dementia efficacy, both the ADAS-Cog and the CGI-I scales in the study yielded positive signals of enhanced efficacy. The mean change in ADAS-Cog over the course of the study showed improvement versus subject baseline and, adjusted for underlying disease progression using a multi-study meta-analysis, subjects showed a mean (± SEM) benefit of 2.45 points over 10 mg/day donepezil or 5.4 ± .84 points compared to predicted untreated disease progression. Combined Clinical Global Impression (CGI-I) scores from investigators and caregivers at 26 weeks averaged 3.1 ± .20 points, thus improving by .94 ± .20 points (p < .001; n = 16). The responder rate (as measured by those who either did not worsen or improved over the course of the study) was over 90 percent.

During the dose maintenance phase, at a median donepezil dose of 40 mg/day, total gastrointestinal adverse events were greatly attenuated and about 80 percent below those predicted from trials of previously approved doses of 10 mg/day of donepezil. As would be expected with a cholinergic blocker that does not cross the blood-brain barrier, solifenacin had no effect on cognitive function and there were no drug-related serious adverse events (SAE) or clinically significant cardiovascular or laboratory abnormalities. There were no drug related drop­outs and no new AEs or evidence of solifenacin toxicity.

“Pre-clinical studies have repeatedly shown that there is a strong dose/efficacy relationship associated with AChEIs. Further, PET scan studies in humans show that at the typical dose of 10 mg/day of donepezil, the central enzymatic inhibition is no greater than about 30 percent, substantially lower than that which would be expected from optimal dosing. Yet, historically, it has not been possible to tolerably increase the dose of donepezil to meaningfully higher levels,” said Douglas Ingram, chief executive officer of Chase. “We believe we have the means to finally unlock the true potential of optimally dosed AChEIs. Moreover, we are employing an efficient development and regulatory pathway and plan to commence a superiority trial versus the current gold-standard treatment for Alzheimer’s, 10 mg/day of donepezil. If successful in Phase 3, CPC-201 could be the new standard for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease and benefit millions of suffering patients.”

About CPC-201

Chase’s lead candidate, CPC-201, is a patent-protected combination of donepezil (an AChEI), one of the few pharmaceuticals proven to improve cognition in Alzheimer’s patients, and solifenacin, a peripherally acting cholinergic blocker.

About Chase

Chase Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of improved treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. Chase’s development program, if successful, will profoundly improve the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The company was co-founded by Thomas Chase, MD, the former Scientific Director and head of the Experimental Therapeutics Branch for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Kathleen Clarence-Smith, MD, PhD, the former head of CNS development at each of Sanofi, Hoffmann-La Roche and Otsuka. Chase is led by its chief executive officer and president, Douglas Ingram, formerly the president of Allergan, Inc.

Chase has closed over $24 million in funding to date, with approximately $22 million through a Series B financing led by New Rhein Healthcare Investors, LLC and including, among others, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Cipla Ventures and Brain Trust Accelerator Fund.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future financial results, events, operations, services, product development and potential, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "plans" and similar expressions. Although Chase’s management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Chase, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including post marketing, decisions by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA or the EMA, regarding whether and when to approve any drug, device or biological application that may be filed for any such product candidates as well as their decisions regarding labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates, the absence of guarantee that the product candidates if approved will be commercially successful, the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic alternatives, Chase’s ability to benefit from external growth opportunities, the impact of cost containment policies and subsequent changes thereto, other than as required by applicable law, Chase does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.

for Chase Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Christine Cassiano, 714-552-0326
ccassiano@w2ogroup.com

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